Keystone XL Means “Game Over For The Climate” — No. 6

People are fond of using this phrase in opposition to the Keystone XL; it comes from James Hansen, a scientist of recognized integrity and towering intellectual achievement.

Hansen’s ethics and responsibility are unimpeachable.

But this meme is profoundly wrong.

Why?

Because in a game, an unsatisfactory outcome lets you try again, right away.

If you lose a game, you can have another round…or wait for next year, or argue with the ref.

Climatic destruction isn’t “game over” — it’s the destruction of the playing field (if your game analogy is athletic), it’s fried electronics (if your game analogy is video). A shattered climate needs recovery times on the order of tens of thousands of years.

It’s not a game if there are no winners, only losers.

James Hansen deserves credit for a concise phrase that conveys a terrifying truth in language that’s easier for our professionally ignorant politicians and media figures to grasp; America’s ADD-formed political culture is ill-equipped to deal with long-term threats.

But Earth’s future ain’t no game.

Go and submit a few public comments about the Keystone XL.

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