The Politics of Climate Change Part 1

The Climate Change debate has become one the most conflicted public policy debate in recent years. In Australia it is a most virulent one, trapped in short-sighted electoral politics. Trying to understand it as an average citizen is near impossible with constant conflicting information coming from many sources with many agendas. If you're trying to make an educated decision as a voter on what is the best way forward for public policy its like looking for an oasis in a desert. Observing this debate as incoherent as it seems, I can't helping wondering if it is about science and a society's relationship with it, that is at the heart of the maelstrom.

Science doesn't just have a crucial role in the political, economic, social and cultural life of a society, it has a psychological and spiritual one. Science reflects the psychology of consciousness, the who, what, how, when and where. It also reflects the spiritual, existential and transcendental, i.e. the why and the meaning of our existence. A society's appreciation of this is a society that looks beyond just the tangible results science creates especially economic ones, but seeks to understand its processes, methods and significance to human life. In other words, science does not have just a utilitarian value but a metaphysical one. This then allows science to become a key engine in a societies enlightenment and its social and economic progress.
CD