Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK) is a climate change denialist, and after saying so online, I’ve had a few conversations over the past few days about RFK and his stated policies on climate change.
I know I have a few insta-friends who are supporters, so I want to break it down line by line and confront some of the common retorts (which are so similar and so fast that they seem scripted). Others could use it to approach and flip RFK supporters who care about climate change. There are a lot of these people. Please help flip them.
My claim that has caused these responses: RFK doesn’t include “climate change” or “global warming” in his campaign website or documented policies, and that should be a significant problem for anyone who understands that climate change is human-caused and a serious threat to our wellbeing.
A couple of notes before I dive in:
- If you don’t understand that climate change is human-caused and a serious threat to our well-being, you are also a climate denier. You are not my audience. You are who I am warning about. I don’t respect your point of view, and we share no common ground. I will not discuss this issue until you can articulate how you separate fact from fiction (I’m confident you can’t).
- I’m citing RFKs own publications. I’m not citing the media. This is intentional because I know RFK supporters generally don’t trust the media. However, more often than not, respondents have told me to stop listening to the media and listen to what RFK says. This is absurd because I’m citing RFK directly, and my argument needs no support from outside sources (assuming the correct understanding of climate change – see #1).
I’ve intentionally understated my original claim. RFK not only fails to mention climate change on his campaign website and in his policies but also says directly in his promotional material that, weighing climate change and other environmental issues, he plans to focus on other environmental issues. Let’s break down a quote from his promotional “Environmental Priorities” video:
“I want people to understand that, in my view, climate change is real and it is an existential threat.”
This framing is intended to give the appearance of taking a stand on this issue. However, it’s not. To take a stand, he must state that climate change is human-caused and needs serious intervention (which he’s about to deny). I’m not aware of a single climate change denialist who denies that the climate is changing.
“But I’m not going to ask everyone to accept that or get on board with the climate change orthodoxy.”
The important takeaway here is that he’s stating his understanding that not all Americans share the goal of fighting climate change. This is important in just a moment.
Further, “orthodoxy” is a trigger and a dog whistle for his entire base. He’s demonizing the consensus on climate change here and trying to validate alternate, misinformed points of view.
“Besides, very few people are inspired by a line on a graph that leads to an eventual apocalypse.”
I’ll admit that I don’t understand this statement. What is he even talking about? Most people are inspired by well-communicated factual data that demonstrates a serious threat to them and everyone they love. All I can see here is absurdity.
Get ready for the kicker.
“Instead, I’m going to prioritize the goals that I hope all Americans share.”
Above, he stated that tackling climate change is not a goal all Americans share. Here, he says directly that he will prioritize other goals.
This is a direct statement in a prepared and scripted promotional video. There is no room for interpretation. Any digressions or muddying of the waters before or after this does not change the fact that RFK stated directly in a scripted video that climate change policy is not his priority. (The fact that he points out that it’s an existential threat first only makes this worse.)
For anyone who has an understanding of climate change science and its implications, this should disqualify their support for RFK.
Please share with your RFK-supporting friends and family.
