A Profile of the Climate Change Denier

The climate change denier,

Or "skeptic," a term preferred

By some--but really it's all

Semantics: it's just a word--

Possesses very strong feelings

About the subject, which

From his point of view

Possesses many a glitch.

 

To start with there are words

He doesn't want to hear.

For example, "global warming"

Instills inordinate fear

In his paranoid brain;

And "global temperatures rising"

Also makes him shudder--

For reasons not surprising.

 

He doesn’t want to hear

You mention "greenhouse gasses."

That's a conspiracy theory

To trick the gullible masses.

In discussing climate change,

He clearly gets his strokes

By claiming there's no evidence

And that it's all a hoax.

 

She says if CO₂

Levels are increasing,

That's just Earth's gasses

That nature is releasing.

Humans have very little

To do with the matter.

And talk of sea levels rising

Is just alarmist chatter.

 

Unless one hundred percent

Of scientists all concur,

She'll continue to be

A climate change saboteur;

For ninety-seven percent

Of experts aren't enough,

When three percent of crackpots

Can justify a rebuff.

 

Questionable news sources

Constantly on the air

Manipulate propaganda

With a journalistic flair.

You'd think the denier would find

The info truly obscene

That the Kochtopus, big oil, and coal

Fund the denial machine.

 

If you bring up "glaciers,"

She'll say it's a lot of bunk

To say that they're disappearing.

She'll say they've merely…shrunk.

The denier loves cherry picking

And crafty logical fallacies,

Both of which don't stand up

To critical analyses.

 

Why is it they can't give

The facts a careful look?

Why is their major concern

The corporate pocket book?

Deniers need to realize

That no one's trying to deceive them,

And that certain things are true

Whether or not they believe them.

 

(4-9-15)