Climate change: ‘Willow project is not a good bet’ - The Seattle Times

Climate change: ‘Willow project is not a good bet’ | The Seattle Times

Re: “ Biden OKs massive oil project on federal land in Alaska, drawing ire of environmentalists” [March 14, A1]:

When it comes to believing in climate change, or not, you might want to keep Pascal’s wager in mind. If you choose to believe in climate change and take the actions needed to control it, and you’re wrong, you lose very little. If you choose not to believe in climate change, and do nothing to control it, and climate change turns out to be real, the results will be catastrophic.

Wanting to believe or not believe in something makes critical analysis difficult and obscures the evidence we need to make the right decision. Bias and distrust and ambiguity should not disqualify the precautionary principle from being our foremost defense against increased greenhouse gas emissions; increased wildfires and severe weather; increased mortality of our forests and carbon sinks; increased permafrost thawing and biodiversity loss.

The consequences of not phasing out coal, and ceasing all licensing and funding of new oil and gas projects, is a direct path to infinite loss. Preventive action in the face of uncertainty is not risky decision-making, it’s what Blaise Pascal would have recommended. He would most likely caution that the Willow project is not a good bet.

Verrall Hoover, Langley