No climate hysteria, just the facts

It has been a full month, to say the least, and there are still four days left before January ends. In my previous column, I mentioned about this month being full of grave big news – US-Iran standoff, Australian wildfires, plane crash killing 176 people in Iran, quakes in Mindanao, Taal Volcano eruption, and the 2019-nCov outbreak.

Then yesterday morning we were shocked to wake up to the news that a helicopter crash tragically ended the life of Kobe Bryant, who at 41 was just starting a promising life of a retired NBA superstar. He was with his 13-year-old daughter along with seven others who also died in the helicopter crash, making the incident even more tragic.

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While we continue to pray for better days ahead, we also continue with our activities that we hope will benefit our lives and all of humanity.

I’ve been writing for quite some time about climate change and the dangers we are and will be facing because of it. Last week, I learned from Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon about the passage of the ordinance that he sponsored which designates the first week of June as the Cebu City Environment Week. The ordinance aims to raise public awareness and encourage concerted action for the protection of the environment.

Likewise, we also learned about the plan of Deputy Speaker Pablo John “PJ” Garcia (3rd District, Cebu) to file a bill creating a body in Cebu to oversee all traffic concerns of LGUs in the province. This is long overdue and I hope all of Cebu’s leaders will support its passage. Traffic and transportation infrastructure, in fact, comprise a large portion of the climate change issue.

This week, the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Environmental Concern led by Rev. Fr. Murphy P. Sarsonas is organizing the 1st Cebu Archdiocesan Convention on Climate Emergency with the theme “500 Years of Christianity, Gifted to Give: Journey, Hope, Act Together in the Face of Climate Emergency.” The two-day convention will be happening on January 31 and February 1 at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City.

The convention aims to produce a concrete plan of action and multi-sectoral commitments in response to the issues of renewable energy, water security and sustainability, climate change and disaster resiliency, solid waste management, and marine ecosystem conservation.

I received a letter by email recently from a reader, Mr. Erich Wannemacher, a German expat based in Lapu-Lapu City, who brought my attention to the word “Klimahysterie” or Climate Hysteria, a term used by climate change deniers to disparage environmentalists.

For lack of space, let me quote pertinent portions of what Mr. Wannemacher wrote: “The professors of Darmstadt University chose that German word (Klimahysterie or Climate Hysteria) as the un-word of the year 2019. The scientists express their frustration over fake scientists who disparage their serious research work as a collective psychosis. And who defame the millions of students of Fridays for Future and all the climate activists who engage in the streets and in the internet against those who deny climate change.”

“The Munich Professor Harald Lesch who is crusading for truth in numerous televised lectures has listed the methods of those climate change deniers: (1) Refusal to accept facts even when irrefutable proofs have been established; (2) Deliberate ignorance corroborated by intentional errors of judgment in order to hold unshakable personal convictions; (3) Selective choice of data detached from the synopsis as long as they fit into their figments; (4) Recourse to misrepresentation and incorrect quotation of scientific works.”