David and I have an article on the Guardian’s Comment is Free site this morning. Here’s a taster:
As we move from discussing the problem of climate change to discussing the solution to it, new sceptics are going to start coming out of the woodwork. Some of them may even be morons or Exxon lobbyists. But the majority will be people who are simply coming to the issue afresh, have some doubts, and need to be won over.
Treating these people as heretics is a monumental free gift to insurgents in the climate debate who really do want to block any serious action on the issue – because it allows them to portray themselves as David, and the Climate Establishment as Goliath.
Being cast as Goliath is fine if your strategy is based on demonstrating that you have overwhelming force and that you can force your audience to do what you want if they don’t play ball. But it is a very bad position to be in when – as with climate change – success depends on winning hearts and minds.
