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Neven

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Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« on: May 10, 2014, 09:59:01 AM »
I'm starting this thread, based on this Guardian article that was posted in another thread:

Quote
Just the other day, the National Wildlife Federation announced its new president – a white male "whiz kid". Last month, the Climate Reality Project, founded by Al Gore, replaced its female chief executive with a white man. Last November, the National Parks and Conservation Association replaced its veteran leader with another white male. The Union of Concerned Scientists is due to announce its new leader as early as next week. Spoiler alert: it's not going to be a woman.

Public opinion research in the US suggests women, Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and Native Americans are more concerned – and more directly affected – by climate change than other populations. Doesn't it make sense to include those who are most at risk in decisions about how we fight the defining challenge of our time?

The article goes on to show that almost every large environmental organisation is headed by a white male. This is probably a reflection of business culture, as Big Environmental is also for a large part big business (working together with instead of fighting other Big You Name It). But it doesn't really explain why online discussions on AGW are also mostly dominated by males, mostly white and rarely below 30.

This is something that I've been wondering about off and on. I know that the skeptic/denier side of the AGW debate is mostly populated by older, white males who are very conservative and will spend all their retirement time to make sure nothing changes. But on the 'alarmist' side of the debate men also outnumber women by a large margin. On this forum for instance there are over 600 members now, but the male to female ratio is 24:1 (see stats).

Why is this? Is this because of our patriarchal culture? Is it because men love chatting with each other about engineering problems? Are women less interested in these issues (in the sense that the urgency fades out quickly in day-to-day life)? Are they simply busier, multitasking more than men?

This is in no way meant as a reproach to either men or women. I'm just curious what the reasons could be. If it were up to me I'd ban men from politics and all positions where important decisions are made. I'd let women (real women, not the ones who are 'emancipated' by having virtually become men) do the deciding and then let the men execute/build it.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2014, 08:56:38 AM by Neven »
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2014, 11:03:16 AM »
May be albedo related? ;)
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idunno

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2014, 11:38:12 AM »
It is also worth considering this article by Monbiot, which suggests that while more privileged groups may be vocal, they are also more irresponsible...

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2014/may/09/why-we-couldnt-care-less-about-the-natural-world


Laurent

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2014, 12:25:18 PM »
« Last Edit: May 10, 2014, 06:18:33 PM by Laurent »

SATire

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2014, 03:01:38 PM »
Why is this? Is this because of our patriarchal culture? Is it because man love chatting with each other about engineering problems? Are women less interested in these issues (my wife for instance knows about them, but the urgency fades out quickly in day-to-day life)? Are they simply busier, multitasking more than men?
Neven, those are very interesting questions and I tried to understand that for some years but I am far from conclusions. So I want to describe just some observations:

I totally agree, that most women I talked to (e.g. teenagers friends of my doughter, my students as well as my age >40), are not interested in discussing in forums like this or SPON and the like: They are just not interested in that "fighting" discussion culture. They think, that is typical male behaviour to impress the girls but are really not impressed by that ;-) They prefer males impressing in real life discussions, making musik, dancing, beeing empathic, getting rich and such...

But I am very sure that women are very interested in the topic of AGW and such. I find 2 groups of behaviours during talking with women interested in the AGW topic (since I do not talk much about AGW with women not interested in the topic, this observations are clearly biased):

female age >40: They are very concerned about AGW. They are concerned since their youth >20 years ago. They know, some things can be done since they did it but that it never will be enough to save the world. So they conclude, that we kill the world just to watch it die (after J. Cash). So they accept watching it dieing while consuming fair-traded eco-stuff and practice green BAU...

female teenagers & students: They are very concerned about AGW. They want to act and they do with a consequence I was not familiar with, if I think back to my youth. They sign petitions from greenpeace, wwf, and such. They are vegetarian because of CO2 and the animals. They refuse to get a driver licence. They think about a life without children because of growth... So they are much more radikal in practice than my generation was. I think they develop the basis for the next 1t green-BAU.
But they consider discussions in general forums not to be of any help - they gather in forums with practical goals and meet also in real life to discuss and plan actions.

But since the "green-BAU" femals are probably just a bit more than the 50% here (hipster http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_%2821._Jahrhundert%29 are now mainstream ;-) there are also a lot of femals not interested at all in AGW and still considering iPhones much "cooler". But that would also hold for the male fraction - so that interest in AGW is not a gender thing, but the forums are.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2014, 05:30:31 PM »
The most basic answer to the “why” is the lack of women’s equality world-wide. 

Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change secretariat, has written of women’s difficulties:
Quote
Although climate change affects all people, women often bear the brunt in places where the impacts of climate change are already being felt. This is due to their central role in their families and communities.
For example, most of the world's small-scale farmers are women, producing most of the food. This is especially true in developing countries where men often must leave their villages in search of work.
...
When the climate changes, women work harder and longer. As food, fuel and water become scarce, women have to walk farther to collect them. Long treks often put women at a greater risk of violence. All of this in regions where women are also the health care providers and caregivers in their families.

When extreme weather conditions do hit—something we're seeing with increased regularity—women suffer the most. This is often linked to their lack of rights. For example, many can't leave their homes during emergencies if they lack a male escort.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/06/world/why-women-are-the-secret/


A 2013 study on green jobs in the US found:

Quote
Women are underrepresented in the green economy, holding just 29.5 percent of green jobs compared to 48 percent of the total U.S. workforce
The distribution of jobs in the green economy is more concentrated in industries that typically employ more men than women, including manufacturing, construction, transportation, warehousing and utilities
Women’s share of green jobs is expected to stay low since the occupations that are projected to see the most growth are traditionally held by men (heating and air conditioning technicians, carpenters and electricians)
The writers of that article made these recommendations:

Quote
First, we have to address an issue which goes beyond just the green economy — the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. To tackle this issue, we must do more to encourage women to enter into these fields early on through educational programs that offer training, career counseling and mentoring. Increasing the number of women qualified for STEM occupations will produce a larger pool of applicants, grow the share of women in STEM positions (and in the green jobs sector), strengthen our workforce and ultimately create more role models for younger generations of women.
We must also take steps to ensure that employers in the green goods and services sector put in place non-discriminatory standards and best practices, especially in industries that are traditionally male-dominated. These best practices could include providing access to professional development training and business management skills classes as well as requiring a certain percentage of women on decision-making and advisory boards (Norway currently has legislation that requires 40 percent representation of either women or men in the boardrooms of state-owned and publicly-traded companies).
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/09/1838051/rosie-the-riveter-on-a-wind-turbine-women-and-the-growing-green-economy/


In many societies, women are not expected (allowed) to be educated, let alone to debate or to “rock the boat.”  Indeed, they are often penalized if they do.  Even in developed countries, unwritten social rules often dictate that it is “unbecoming” for a woman to speak up.  For these reasons, much of the debate is going unheard.
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icefest

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2014, 06:17:25 PM »
I wouldn't mind seeing the stats for women vs men sorted by age.

My theory is that we are getting closer to approaching gender equality in the younger generations but not so much in the older ones. 

In my industry, the majority of young students are female but the workforce average is still predominantly male. This is especially true in the older members (who are often also the ones in leadership positions and earning more; thereby skewing averages in their favor).  I doubt the situation is as rosy in other countries/industries.

Then again, I am a white male in a liberal western democracy so I have little justifiability to make these presumptuous statements.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2014, 08:28:55 PM »
The First Lady of the US Michelle Obama speaks about the tragedy in Nigeria of the almost 300 abducted schoolgirls, and the risks of attending they knew well. 

https://www.breakingnews.com/topic/nigeria-schoolgirls-kidnapped/


Education activist Malala Yousafzai, herself a victim of violence against schoolgirls, also spoke out against the abduction.

"In Swat [district of Pakistan], girls were banned from school and we spoke. The same thing happened in Nigeria, and we need to speak up," she said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-nigeria-schoolgirls/we-need-speak-malala-yousafzai-missing-nigeria-schoolgirls-n99576

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai
« Last Edit: May 10, 2014, 08:36:10 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2014, 09:19:51 PM »
While poorer countries are worried about their impact on the environment, richer (and whiter) countries feel less guilty -- and buy a new computer or tablet to argue publicly about it?

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2014/may/09/why-we-couldnt-care-less-about-the-natural-world
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JimD

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2014, 02:20:01 AM »
Well here is a female who is debating quite well.  IN fact she may well end up having more impact on climate change than any of those males running all the environmental organizations.  Maybe more than all of them put together.

Best be careful what you wish for.  Gender is in no way a defining aspect of social responsibility or guaranteed goodness.  Sometimes it is functionally evil.  Some women are nurturing mothers and others are just Motherf**kers.

Quote
Outside the political hothouse of Brasilia, there are probably few who can name the head of Brazil's powerful agricultural lobby, yet the woman in question, Kátia Abreu, is rapidly becoming the country's most interesting, important – and dangerous – politician.

The senator and rancher from Tocantins was an influential force in the weakening of Brazil's forest code blamed by many for the recent rise in Amazon deforestation. Her support – in parliament and in an acerbic newspaper column – for more roads through the Amazon, congressional control over demarcation of indigenous reserves, more efficient monocultures and genetically modified "terminator seeds" has earned her the wrath of environmentalists who have called her "Miss Deforestation", "chainsaw queen" and the "face of evil".

Abreu, however, is defiant, saying she is preparing to run for president one day and wants to help Brazil overtake the US as the world's biggest food producer. "Running for president is not a plan – it is fate. I'm getting ready for that, preparing in case it is my destiny," she said in an interview at her office in Brasilia. "Criticism from radical environmentalists is the best form of endorsement. It gives me satisfaction. It shows I am on the right track and playing the right role."...

...Her bullish business message is underpinned by flag-waving nationalism and attacks on any group accused of trying to slow the growth of Brazilian agriculture. This include environmentalists, indigenous groups and landless peasants, all of whom she alleged – without evidence – were working for foreign interests....

Abreu is taking on the environmental movement with enormous potential consequences for the global climate and food supply. She appears to be winning. As the economy has become more dependent on agribusiness, the influence of its lobby in parliament has increased to the point where it can almost make or break the government agenda....

If she succeeds there is a good chance everyone loses.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/05/brazil-chainsaw-queen-katia-abreu-amazon-deforestation
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NeilT

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2014, 02:29:27 PM »
I find that I can only see this from my family point of view and especially from two of my daughters.

The older has been calm, responsible and has built a career for herself.  She has assiduously avoided key positions or top jobs and has actually demoted herself by changing jobs specifically to keep her family life close and the job away.  She's not interested in environmental issues as she does not really believe the hype going on.  She's way too sensible.

The younger daughter has been frivolous, more interested in her "image", consumed with Facebook, constantly looking at what the world can do for "her".  Her saving grace in that hedonistic life has been her dedication to her children.

However younger daughter has recently managed to move into a personal training business.  Suddenly she's responsible for her own income and the financial welfare of the children.  She's all business and most of the frilly stuff has gone.  Yet she still has no interest or time for "soft" issues like impending doom 100 years away.

I am absolutely certain that if we could convince them both that their children will have a life blighted by climate change and that their Grandchildren may live in a world of war, they would become quite active.  Because the instinct to protect the family is very strong.

Men, on the other hand, have been the foragers, the combatants, the protectors, those who go out and support the family.  This has nothing to do with "equality" and everything to do with genetics.  Men can't have children.  Therefore there is a huge part of their lives which they don't share with women. That is filled with career and, often, causes.

As for white males?  The majority of the western working world consists of white males.  The western world is at least 100 years, or more, ahead of the rest of the world.  Although the rest of the world is catching up.  Witness the recent CEO change at Microsoft. 

Is it such a surprise that the largest block of more experienced males are running things, active in driving things?

Is it any surprise that most women feel they have better things to do than get in a forum and mix it up on an issue which cannot guarantee their future or the future of their family?
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2014, 02:48:34 PM »
I'll add my .02.   My wife is a microbiologist who works at a governmental place having something to do with Environment, Policies and Actions.    She occasionally reads things in this blog (and elsewhere) that I send her.  And sends me news articles she finds.     But she does not spend much time keeping up with the minute by minute details and discussions.    Like she knows enough to know things are changing and things are probably going to be bad.   I think she would say: Soaking in more details than that is really not necessary.   We know enough to make choices.  Hybrid car, rain barrel, combine trips, recycle, etc.   And she is all over the new Solar Road idea listed here in a separate discussion.  So there is more of a filter,  less news-lust and more living out what you know.

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2014, 03:38:51 PM »
And mine. As a male feminist, I'm convinced that women should play a greater part in these matters. Unfortunately, I'm just as convinced that they won't.

Men and women are mostly equally good and bad at most things. One minor difference - men are much better at watering the garden with a hosepipe - think about it. One major difference though: if there's a problem, the male attitude is "how can we fix it," while the female mind says "how can we live with it." I'm not sure why this difference exists, but I've proved it to be true many times since I noticed it three or four decades ago.

This attitude could explain your conundrum. We're rushing around trying to solve the problem, while the ladies have subconsciously accepted that there is no solution no matter what we try to do.
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JimD

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2014, 05:40:36 PM »
And mine. As a male feminist, I'm convinced that women should play a greater part in these matters. Unfortunately, I'm just as convinced that they won't.

.......

This attitude could explain your conundrum. We're rushing around trying to solve the problem, while the ladies have subconsciously accepted that there is no solution no matter what we try to do.

I guess that makes me a feminist too.  Whocoodanode?
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

idunno

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2014, 05:49:31 PM »
No, JimD, sorry to break it to you, but that makes you a lady. :P

mabs

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2014, 06:29:17 AM »

Maybe it's time for a woman to chime in on this topic.

An item of personal gripe. Let's drop this talk about "ladies." For some women being a lady is what they failed at in life, much to the disgruntlement of their mothers. I was 20 when my mother informed me that it is un-lady-like for a woman to be drunk in public, which is when I knew I will never be a lady.

The idea that somehow women perceive climate change differently is somewhat supported by big data, but the idea that those perceptions explain the lack of representation of women in leadership is not.

Almost every survey I came across and most studies have shown over and over again that women are more concerned about climate change and are more likely to take action based on those concerns than men. Women are more likely to say they are willing to pay a higher personal costs if that means mitigating some of the coming effects of climate change and are more likely to say that climate change is already here and threatens them, their family and their community. For example, they are willing to accept higher taxes, higher energy prices, change shopping habits, and take action within their communities to mitigate environmental threats.

For a very good study and a detailed review of the literature on the issue see this study by McCright (2010)  http://news.msu.edu/media/documents/2010/09/1a32cabc-4edc-45f4-aeec-d731c6028db4.pdf

Clearly the answer to the question cannot be that at grassroots women don't care or they have come to passively await the impending doom, while men run around "fixing" the problem.

For the question posed here and in the Guardian article to even be a question, it would have to be shown that somehow the absence of women in leadership positions in environmental organization is an oddity. That is, someone would have to show that women are quite well represented in leadership positions in all other walks of life, but environmental organizations. Right now, we call it a success when women achieve 20% representation in the legislatures of some of the most developed nations.

Of course, it may be that women don't want this kind of responsibility, because they want to focus on their families and such, or it may be that there are all kinds of institutional, structural, and cultural impediments standing between them and these leadership positions. Or it might be both.

In the wise words of Niel Degrasse Tyson, as long as some obstacle exist, it is premature to conclude that women just don't want this level of responsibility or are simply "different" then men when in comes to how they debate, engage, or the issues they find persuasive - because you know, selection bias and all.


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Jim Hunt

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2014, 06:39:20 AM »
A couple of powerful (white) females are intent on changing the debate:

"Transformational Climate Science"

Prof. Catherine Mitchell and Dame Julia Slingo say many things must change.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2014, 04:46:23 PM by Jim Hunt »
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #17 on: May 17, 2014, 08:56:47 AM »

Maybe it's time for a woman to chime in on this topic.

Yes! Thanks a lot, mabs.
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2014, 04:31:41 PM »
While the male/female ratio is 25:1 that is not representative of how long the Forum members are on line here.  Looking at the list of the top ten it looks like 20% of them are female.

So in that sense they represent 5 times their membership?

Now we just have to get them to tell us what they think more often.
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2014, 05:55:44 PM »
OK, I'll bite.

First, I'm wary of generalisations. I'm not knocking statistics but earlier today I was listening to a discussion about fish farming where it was pointed out that although farmers tend to talk about fish as shoals, recent research has shown that individual fish feel pain and so on much like any other vertebrates.

I don't represent females, I'm me. Speaking only for myself, the vast majority of my time on this forum is spent learning from people, occasionally bystanding at the rare gunslinging, which can also be instructive. I have no great expertise to impart (not that some of the male contributors have, either ;) ) but I'm engaged and interested and sometimes take things away to other places where there is a population largely indifferent to what's happening.

I'm not sure what is to be gained from joining in discussions unless one has something positive to contribute. Most of my posts are either sharing something relevant that other people might not have seen, or asking stupid questions. Stupid questions are good, imo, because they are questions most people daren't ask, and which allow those standing on the outside to get an in. I suspect - though this is just a hunch, completely unscientific - that there may be more people like me, both male and female, who follow the ASIF but who feel they lack the qualifications to participate.

(Wondering now what value this adds.)

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #20 on: May 19, 2014, 05:44:17 AM »
Anne, every post I've read of yours definitely 'adds value,' including this one.

Something that is generally undervalued is the central importance of the 'translator'--the person who is not a 'native speaker' in, for example, various scientific fields, but who has enough interest in it that she or he can convey to others the essential insights of the field in language they can understand.

As one  of those males who have no great expertise to impart, I would encourage others of any gender to engage more fully here and in other such genres, since only by engaging can we find out where we are way off base...and where we are closer to than we (and others) dare imagine.

(I hope that wasn't totally incoherent.)
"A force de chercher de bonnes raisons, on en trouve; on les dit; et après on y tient, non pas tant parce qu'elles sont bonnes que pour ne pas se démentir." Choderlos de Laclos "You struggle to come up with some valid reasons, then cling to them, not because they're good, but just to not back down."

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #21 on: May 19, 2014, 01:14:09 PM »
Another woman chiming in.   And I'm part of that over 60, semi-retired, demographic that seems to represent too many of the denier crowd. 

I'm also pretty well retired from activism, though our new "conservative" government is stirring the old get-out-the-feet-on-the-streets instincts.  I was part of the famed 2nd wave feminist movement as well as a lifelong union activist.   How do I feel about things now?  For feminism and unionism, I feel as though all those fights we thought we'd won have to be fought all over again.   

For climate, I confess to feeling a bit guilty.  I was on top of it right from the start - but I failed to see how this issue would turn out to be different from the others I saw as similar.   Without being in a STEM field, I was a regular reader of New Scientist and similar science magazines from the late 70s onward.  Climate and carbon neutral technologies were discussed regularly. 

As time went on, I presumed that global warming was just another technical glitch that needed fixing.   Smog, acid rain, lead in petrol, asbestos in buildings, the Montreal Protocol on CFCs, river pollution in advanced industrial economies all seemed to get done eventually.  It always took time, stick in the muds and near-criminal industries always made things difficult but patient diplomacy, persistent legislators and then regulators prosecuting offenders seemed to do the job protesters had been asking for 10 or more years earlier.  And I thought the computer industry dealing with and getting ahead of any/all consequences of the Y2K problems they'd created for themselves was a model for everyone to follow.

When we needed to replace our hot water service in the late 80s, we didn't even consider any option except solar.   I truly, honestly believed that solar would be the only legal option in Australia, for households anyway,  the early 2000s.  It was the only thing that made any sense.  It was inevitable. 

What I failed to notice were the parallels with the industries that successfully resisted legislative and diplomatic action.  Tobacco and pesticides producers being the obvious candidates here.  Also, like many left-wing-ish people, I too readily accepted the ideas that industry talks about as self-described "entrepreneurs" focused on innovation and always looking for opportunities for making profit.  As far as I could tell, and still do, there are billions of dollar$$$ there for the taking in new industries of renewable energy and retrofitting buildings as well as transport infrastructure.   People focused on profits made by sweet deals with governments - or by seeking tax benefits or favourable tendering conditions all the way through to bribery and corruption -  can just as easily do that when claiming the moral high ground of "being green" and "making a better world for our grandchildren" and all the other marketing mantras a cynical money maker is willing to attach to their name. 

I've now realised that we're not really dealing with a -capitalist- problem at all.  At least, not any more.  It's not about profits.  It's become a pseudo feudal problem.  The owners of all those assets of identified fossil resources and of mining/prospecting licences for other possible resources simply cannot afford them being converted to stranded assets in the way that asbestos mines, leases, factories became valueless, stranded investments.   It. wouldn't. have. done. so. if fossil companies had turned themselves into power resource companies 20 or so years ago.  But their past actions leading to their current share value being based on mines, drilling, and associated power generation have now turned this into a scenario much more like peasants with pitchforks attacking the forests, lands and assets of the aristocracy rather than a fairly straightforward business plan for a steady, well-managed conversion to new methods and different processes to keep up with the modern kids. 

I've done my small part in the online climate wars - I think being called a "Lysenkoist whore" was a pretty unforgettable highlight several years ago - but I do very little away from the key board.   Though where I live it's sort of taken for granted that you'll have solar panels and a small to non-existent power bill unless you're renting or your roof is overshadowed or wrongly aligned or you're waiting until you can afford to replace your all-gas household's equipment with electric.  You don't need to be interested in climate or committed to change.  People are a bit proud of our conversion - in less than 10 years - to getting 30% of our power from wind and that 25% of us have panels on our roofs.       

icefest

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #22 on: May 19, 2014, 02:05:18 PM »
Adelady, I must admit, what SA has done as far as renewable electricity goes, is pretty stupendous for Australia.
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Anne

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2014, 01:08:25 PM »
Adelady, I wish we had "like" buttons on here.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2014, 02:08:14 AM »
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres says a climate deal must create an equal economy for men and women.

http://www.rtcc.org/2014/08/04/christiana-figueres-climate-deal-must-bring-gender-equality/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #25 on: August 06, 2014, 04:35:57 PM »
First summit on women and climate -- stresses how small amounts of money in the right hands can effect big changes.

http://www.trust.org/item/20140803181731-ylhs9/?source=fiOtherNews3
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Nick_Naylor

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #26 on: August 11, 2014, 07:08:55 PM »
My experience is that the Koch strategy of turning the topic into a heated political argument has affected women more than men. Anytime climate change is discussed, it is likely to go in one of two directions:

A - Conservatives insist that it is perfectly respectable to believe that climate change is a hoax and/or is vastly overstated by scientists who are trying to justify their jobs. Nobody is ever able to make a dent in this position, and it tends to be a very frustrating conversation for everyone.

B - Some "adult" in the room successfully changes to the subject to something "safe." Decorum is maintained.

Either way, the Kochs buy time, and Americans for Prosperity collects its paycheck.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #27 on: August 30, 2014, 01:01:30 AM »
544 Young Women Want To Tell The UN About The Urgency Of Climate Change

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/29/3477305/young-women-keynote-climate-summit/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #28 on: September 25, 2014, 01:20:50 AM »
538: the racial gap on global warming (in the US).

Quote
Given the talk about the need for diversity in the global warming movement, you might expect that the people who say fighting global warming should a top priority would be overwhelmingly white. You’d be wrong.
...
It seems clear from the polling that whites are more skeptical of the need for government intervention on global warming than non-whites. If the leaders of climate-change movement are overwhelmingly white, then they are not representative of the larger the slice of the public most sympathetic to their cause.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-racial-gap-on-global-warming/
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viddaloo

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #29 on: September 25, 2014, 02:26:27 AM »
Could there be an albedo effect in the global warming debate? LOL. Some people. Remind me why it matters what colour skin people who talk about melting ice–caps have.
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #30 on: September 27, 2014, 02:53:44 PM »
Could there be an albedo effect in the global warming debate? LOL. Some people. Remind me why it matters what colour skin people who talk about melting ice–caps have.

It matters because the people not being heard on climate change are the ones most being affected, and they are the ones least able to effect change on their own.  They suffer while the (white, male) minority with the most power ignore their needs.

Why not try actually reading the thread?  It might assist with your memory problems.
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viddaloo

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #31 on: September 27, 2014, 03:22:47 PM »
Well, I just disagree, that's all. I've read the thread, but it seems to me that WE're not being heard, either. We meaning pink-coloured skin types. And if and when civilization collapses, we're equally affected, I would think.
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icefest

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #32 on: September 28, 2014, 09:14:11 AM »
Well, I just disagree, that's all. I've read the thread, but it seems to me that WE're not being heard, either. We meaning pink-coloured skin types. And if and when civilization collapses, we're equally affected, I would think.
Affluent white people are much often much further removed from the short term effects of AGW. Social security and insurance decrease the risks with short term climate variability and a decreased dependence on agriculture based economy further insulate them from climactic variability (Compare loosing your third holiday house at the beach to starving because your farmland is suffering from encroaching seawater).
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ccgwebmaster

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #33 on: September 28, 2014, 10:19:16 AM »
Affluent white people are much often much further removed from the short term effects of AGW. Social security and insurance decrease the risks with short term climate variability and a decreased dependence on agriculture based economy further insulate them from climactic variability (Compare loosing your third holiday house at the beach to starving because your farmland is suffering from encroaching seawater).

But maybe the defining attribute is affluence, rather than whiteness or maleness?

Correlation doesn't imply causation and all that - it may be correlated to affluence, which just happens to be disproportionately in the hands of white males?

Inasmuch as a lot of the debate is effectively done online (including media outlets), there might be a technological bias too - in both access and user base.

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #34 on: September 28, 2014, 12:25:30 PM »
Paul Newman said something like 'my wife and i get along so well because she gets to decide on all the little things, like which state and house we live in, how its decorated and what we eat, whereas i decide on the big things like our international policy' . In most non white society the man gets to decide on the little things too[?]

Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #35 on: September 29, 2014, 02:58:08 PM »
What if people of color dominated the climate debate?  US study shows different attitudes by race.
http://grist.org/news/americans-of-color-put-whites-to-shame-on-climate/
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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #36 on: September 29, 2014, 04:07:04 PM »
Divide & impera.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Why are (white) males dominating the debate?
« Reply #37 on: October 27, 2014, 06:14:50 PM »
UNFCCC Gender Mandate Guide

Quote
Gender balance is an important indicator of women’s participation in the decision making process. Women continue to be underrepresented in many delegations, namely in higher levels of leadership in negotiations and in countries that face the highest risk in the face of climate change. It is essential for women to be included in the climate change decision making process so that solutions may properly serve all those affected by climate change. Gender balance is a tool for the achievement of gender equality, and it is also a crucial step in reaching an overall socially just, ambitious and effective climate agreement.
http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/unfccc-gender-mandate-guide/
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