Mon 8/21 @ 7PM
Those of us who are concerned about the natural disasters — hurricanes, floods or catastrophic fires like the one on Maui last week — wrought or worsened by human-caused climate change (which includes a large cohort of young people) get infuriated by deniers who claim it isn’t happening or that we’re making a big deal out of nothing.
It’s an issue that author David Lipsky discusses in his new book The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial. He goes way back to some of the roots of modern anti-science attitudes, looking at how three inventors — Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse — laid the foundation for modern technology, for better and worse. He talks about scientist who initially warned about the impact carbon dioxide would have in fueling global warning and what the books blurb refers to as “the hucksters, zealots, and crackpots who lied about that science and misled the public in ever more outrageous ways.” He looks at the role of big corporate money and how it played a role, honing its denier skills in its campaign to reassure people that cigarettes had no negative health impacts.
The Hudson Library and Historical Society will host Lipsky for a virtual author program that’s free and open to all. You must register to get the link. Go here.