紐時賞析／氣候變遷不只是環保問題 如今更成為文化戰爭議題

Climate Is Now a Culture War Issue

氣候如今已成為文化戰爭議題

Understanding climate denial used to seem easy: It was all about greed. Delve into the background of a researcher challenging the scientific consensus, a think tank trying to block climate action or a politician pronouncing climate change a hoax and you would almost always find major financial backing from the fossil fuel industry.

以前要理解否認氣候變遷似乎很容易：一切都與貪婪有關。無論是挑戰科學共識的研究員、嘗試阻擋氣候行動的智庫，抑或將氣候變遷斥為騙局的政治人物，只要深入探究其背景，你幾乎總能在主要投資人中發現化石燃料產業的身影。

Those were simpler, more innocent times, and I miss them.

那些是比較簡單、純真的時光，而我想念那些時光。

True, greed is still a major factor in anti-environmentalism. But climate denial has also become a front in the culture wars, with right-wingers rejecting the science in part because they dislike science in general and opposing action against emissions out of visceral opposition to anything liberals support.

當然，貪婪仍是反環保主義背後的一項主要因素。但否認氣候變遷也已成為文化戰爭的前線，右派拒絕科學的部分原因是他們基本上討厭科學，而反對減碳舉措，因為他們本能性反對任何自由派支持的事物。

And this cultural dimension of climate arguments has emerged at the worst possible moment — a moment when both the extreme danger from unchecked emissions and the path toward slashing those emissions are clearer than ever.

且氣候爭論的文化面恰在最糟糕的時間點浮現——毫無節制排碳所造成的極端危險，以及削減這些碳排的方式，兩者皆前所未有清晰。

Worldwide, July was the hottest month on record, with devastating heat waves in many parts of the globe. Extreme weather events are proliferating.

在世界各地，7月是史上最熱月份，多個地區遭致災性熱浪侵襲。極端氣候事件激增。

At the same time, technological progress in renewable energy has made it possible to envisage major reductions in emissions at little or no cost in terms of economic growth and living standards.

與此同時，再生能源領域的科學進展使人們得以預見，大幅減少碳排，並在經濟成長及生活品質上付出微小或零代價，並非不可能。

About attitudes toward science: As recently as the mid-2000s, Republicans and Democrats had similar levels of trust in the scientific community. Since then, however, Republican trust has plunged as Democratic trust has risen; there’s now a 30-point gap between the parties.

有關對科學的態度：直到不久前的2000年代中期，共和黨與民主黨對科學界都保有相同程度的信任。但自那之後，共和黨的信任大幅減少，民主黨的信任則不斷提高；如今兩黨間有30個百分點的差距。

The fact that the climate war is now part of the culture war worries me, a lot. Special interests can do a great deal of damage, but they can be bought off or counterbalanced with other special interests. Indeed, an important part of President Joe Biden’s climate strategy is the idea that renewable energy investments, which have been soaring since his legislation passed, will give many businesses and communities a stake in continuing the green transition.

氣候戰爭現已成為文化戰爭的一部分，這使我憂心，非常憂心。特殊利益可能造成巨大傷害，但其他特殊利益或能收買或制衡它們。誠然，拜登總統的氣候變遷策略中，一個重要的想法即是投資再生能源將使許多企業及團體受益，持續推動綠能轉型。而自從他的法案通過後，這項投資就持續飆升。

But such rational if self-interested considerations won’t do much to persuade people who believe that green energy is a conspiracy against the American way of life. So, the culture war has become a major problem for climate action — a problem we really, really don’t need right now.

但這種理性甚或自利的考量，對那些認為綠能是一場反對美國生活方式陰謀的人，無法發揮多大說服作用。因此，文化戰爭已成為氣候運動的一項主要問題，一個我們現在真的、真的不需要的問題。

文／Paul Krugman　譯／陳曉慈