"Climate Change Denialist" Straw Man

By Wayne Brown

 

The "straw man" fallacy intentionally creates a caricature of the opponent's argument to attack the caricature rather than the actual argument.

In the climate debate, those who question any element of the Utopian Activist agenda will be greeted by angry accusations of "denialism," accompanied by claims that "everyone" agrees with the "Science."

Just what "everyone" agrees to is not mentioned, but perhaps it refers to the fact that almost everyone agrees that the planet is warming, possibly due to human influence.

But the sceptic may be claiming that, for example, the alarm is not warranted, that there is scant evidence that particular disasters (such as hurricanes) are becoming more common, or that climate models are not fit for purpose. The sceptic will be shouted down as a "denialist," relieving the activist of any hard work involved in actually listening to the sceptic.

Other straw men available to activists include capitalism or any connection to the fossil fuel industry.

The fallacy can work the other way too. Climate activists tend to carry a lot of baggage that is not really connected to the core issue (fear that climate change will get out of control). A common bit of baggage is an unreasonable love of windmills. A sceptic can avoid discussing the real fears of the activist by shifting the discussion to windmills.

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