I walked into a bar in Washington D.C. and the smell of beer and scotch linger in the air. Glancing around, I see Nathaniel Rich sitting with Robinson Meyer and Emily Atkin. I slowly walk over with my beer and causally ease-drop on their conversation.
“Now look,” said Rich with a look of annoyance on his face, “You weren’t the ones talking to these people. There were some things that I left out, but I stand by my conclusion; we all are responsible for not getting legislation passed. We all are at fault for the current climate catastrophe.”
Meyer looks up from his drink, “No man, you got it all wrong. It’s the damn republicans and oil companies that are to blame!”
At this point Emily Atkin speaks up as she shifts nervously in her seat, “Actually, you both are right. Yes the republicans and oil companies are at fault. But so are we, everyone is. I agree with Rich that we all have our daily problems and that it is extremely difficult to fathom something that won’t happen for forty plus years.”
“It’s happening now Emily! And the republicans and oil companies knew about and did nothing.” Meyer yelled.
At this point I start to feel somewhat uncomfortable and walk back to the bar. It is apparent to me that Rich spent hundreds of hours interviewing countless people for his article in The New York Times Magazine. I could tell that he was trying to be impartial. But obviously Meyer was having none of it. In his mind the republicans and the oil companies were the ones who dropped the ball. Call it corporate greed or fear of not getting reelected, but Meyer did have a point. But then again so did Atkin. I myself do believe in the science of climate change, but to actually think about the ultimate destruction that climate change will do is almost unbearable.
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