Meet the inactivists, tangling up the climate crisis in culture wars
不作为主义者,将气候危机与文化战争纠缠在一起
In May 2020, as the world was convulsed by the coronavirus pandemic and global infections topped 4 million, a strange video began appearing in the feeds of some Facebook users.
2020年5月,当世界被冠状病毒大流行搅得天翻地覆,全球感染人数突破400万时,脸书用户的反馈中出现了一个奇怪的视频。
Climate alarm is reaching untold levels of exaggeration and hysteria, said an unseen narrator, over a montage of environmental protests and clips of a tearful Greta Thunberg.
一个隐形的叙述者说,在环境抗议的蒙太奇和格雷塔-唐伯格的哭泣片段中,气候警报达到难以形容的夸张和歇斯底里的程度。
There is no doubt about it, climate change has become a cult, it continued, to the kind of pounding beat you might hear on the soundtrack of a Hollywood blockbuster.
毋庸置疑,气候变化已经成为一个沉重的话题,它将持续下去,最终成为你可能会在好莱坞大片的原声带中听到那种沉重的节奏。
Carbon dioxide emissions have become the wages of sin.
二氧化碳排放已经成为罪恶的代价。
The videos reach was relatively small: according to Facebook data, it was viewed somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 times.
这段视频的影响相对较小:根据Facebook的数据,它的浏览次数在15,000到20,000之间。
But over the following weeks more videos came, each one experimenting with slightly different scripts and visuals.
但在接下来的几周里,更多的视频出现了,每一个都在尝试略微不同的剧本和视觉效果。
All focused on the supposed irrationality and hypocrisy of climate campaigners, and the hardship they wanted to inflict upon societys most impoverished communities.
所有视频的焦点都集中在气候运动者所谓的非理性和虚伪上,以及他们想给社会上最贫穷的社区带来的困难上。
Those who demand action on climate change continue to fly around in private jets from one virtue-signalling climate conference to the next, stated one, against a backdrop of Leonardo DiCaprio and Prince Harry delivering speeches from lecterns.
一个人说道,在莱昂纳多-迪卡普里奥和哈里王子在演讲台上发表演讲的背景下,那些要求对气候变化采取行动的人继续乘坐私人飞机,接二连三地参加一个个以美德标榜的气候会议。
Is this fair?
这公平吗?
Another video took aim at the idea that countries should be transitioning towards net zero carbon dioxide emissions, calling it an unnecessary and swingeing plan that hits the poor and costs the earth.
另一个视频聚焦于各国应该向二氧化碳净零排放过渡的观点,称其是一个不必要的、巨大的计划,打击了穷人并使地球付出了代价。
In total, between May and July, the advertiser spent less than 3,000 pounds disseminating 10 videos.
在5月和7月之间,广告商总共花了不到3000英镑来传播10个视频。
Collectively, they were viewed more than half a million times.
这些视频总共被观看了50多万次。
At one stage, users hovering over the logo of that advertiser a UK organisation called The Global Warming Policy Forum, or GWPF were informed by Facebook that it was a Science Site.
在一段时间,用户将目光停留在该广告商的标志上,即一个名为全球变暖政策论坛(GWPF)的英国组织,Facebook称它是一个科学网站。
The GWPF is not a science website: it is the campaigning arm of a well-funded foundation accused by opponents of being one of Britains biggest sources of climate science denial.
GWPF不是一个科学网站:它是一个资金雄厚的基金会的宣传部门,被反对者指控为英国最大的气候科学否认来源之一。
The videos being tested by the GWPF in the spring and summer of 2020 were part of a strategic pivot away from explicit climate crisis denialism, and towards something subtler a move being pursued by similar campaigners across the world.
GWPF在2020年春季和夏季测试的视频是一个战略支点的一部分,从明确的气候危机否认主义,转向更微妙的东西,世界各地相同的倡导者都在追求这一点。
Welcome to a new age of what the atmospheric scientist and environmental author Michael E Mann has labelled climate inactivism: an epic struggle to convince you not so much to doubt the reality of climate crisis, but rather to dampen your enthusiasm for any attempts at dealing with it.
欢迎来到大气科学家和环境作家迈克尔-曼(Michael E Mann)称之为气候不活跃主义的新时代:一场史诗般的斗争,不是让你怀疑气候危机的现实,而是打消任何尝试应对它的热情。