Defective Arguments Denying an Inconvenient Truth

Gough cites that the public discussion about global warming--its science, its effects, the human-based causes and the predicted consequences--suffers from a failure to employ the process of reasoning to change one's mind and subsequent determined behavior, a process known as argumentation. The issue of global warming has serious consequences for humankind and the natural world. This world is the basis of our life. Perhaps people are rendered inactive by the sheer speed and magnitude of the changes to the earth or rendered inactive by paralyzing inertia brought about by believing that "it just cannot be true" or "it cannot be accepted," making it unbelievable in all of its ramifications for current and future generations. The deniers seem to have the economic trump card, which basically starts with the completely unsupported claim that the good life and ecological values are consistent and can be reduced to economic calculations, while no economic inefficiencies can be sacrificed for either the good life or ecological values.