...99 percent confident that the world really was getting warmer and that there was a high degree of probability that it was due to human-made greenhouse gases.
James HansenRead
You can't turn on your television without seeing these advertisements about clean coal, clean tar sands and the claim that there's more jobs associated with fossil fuels than other industries. That's of course not true. But they're hammering that into the voters' heads.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes misleading advertisements about fossil fuels and their job creation potential.
James Hansen highlights the deceptive nature of advertisements that promote fossil fuels as clean sources of energy, asserting that these claims are misleading and intended to influence public perception. He emphasizes the need for voters to recognize the truth behind the environmental impact of fossil fuels and the necessity of pushing for cleaner energy alternatives, rather than succumbing to persuasive but false narratives.
Themes
Clean CoalFossil FuelsAdvertisementsMisleadingEnvironmentJob Creation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about renewable energy, one could reference how misinformation about fossil fuels, as Hansen notes, can mislead voters.
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'Goals' and 'caps' on carbon emissions are practically worthless, if coal emissions continue, because of the exceedingly long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the air.
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