Ed,

Ted Strong’s letter (CVI 2/12/20) brushed on the differences in terminology between ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’.

Here’s another angle. Global warming is the term us baby boomers grew up with. In 2003, the Bush administration was advised to use the term ‘climate change’ instead. It supposedly sounded more benign. A further strategy was to discredit the science because climate action challenged Big Money. In the words of Republican communications advisor Frank Luntz: “The scientific debate is closing [against us] but not yet closed. There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science. … Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore, you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate.”

Shakti Burke, Maclean