Believing falsely in global warming harms far less than denying it falsely

Evidence

The consequences of these two types of false beliefs are asymmetric but opposite to the ones that Ebell foretells. The initiatives supported by a false positive belief would put a cost on carbon, reduce wasteful practices and the mountains of trash they produce, foster development of green technologies, reduce reliance on fossil fuel energy with renewable sources, promote environmental conservation practices, create efficient mass-transit systems, develop recreational areas, and produce less environmental pollution. Under these conditions, people would live in harmony with their environment. In contrast, the false-negative belief fuels the high-energy diet that results in environmental degradation and the depletion of nonrenewable resources and produces massive amounts of pollution. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2544 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

According to Ross Garnaut at the Australian National University, the sorry dispute about climate change has become “less civilized, noisier and more ignorant” (Della-Ragione, 2011). One of the grave moral concerns that gets lost in this heated feud is the future state of the earth and humankind if the belief about global warming is a myth. Myron Ebell (2006), the director of the Center of Energy and the Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is heavily funded by the petroleum industry, argues that global warming makes life more pleasant in northern regions with fewer and less severe winter storms. This northern scenario suggests that the cost to human well-being of a false positive (belief in global warming that does not exist) is greater than a false-negative belief (denial of global warming that exists). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2543 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Climate skeptics claim a false alarm costs more than denial. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2543; The costs of denying climate change exceed the costs of false alarm. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2544

Broader Connections

• The costs of denying climate change exceed the costs of false alarm. #corroborates (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2544
• Climate skeptics claim a false alarm costs more than denial. #responds-to (0.92) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2543