People Are Not to Blame

Go outside and rub your eyes,          D  Dmaj7
It’s really orange skies, but                B7
People are not to blame.                    G  G#dim  A
No more moisture in the ground,    Em B+5
Fire season all year round, but         Em7  A
People are not to blame                     Em7  A  D  D#dim A A+5

Don’t even imagine compliance       Am  D  Gmaj7-6
‘Cause I don’t believe in science       Bm7 E7 Em7 Asus4
I really love my SUV                            D Dmaj7
And when Jesus talks to me, tells me  B7
People are not to blame                     Em7  A  D  D#dim A A+5

Birds are falling from the air
But that doesn’t mean I care ’cause
People are not to blame
There’s nothing to discuss
I just know that it ain’t    us, and
People are not to blame

It’s all just part of God’s great plan    Am D G
Burning up the promised land            Bm7 E7 Em7 Asus4
I know that one and one is three,
I’m as free as I can be
People are not to blame

I’ll let you in on my secret                     Am D G
But you’ve got to promise to keep it.  E7  A7
Just say no to common sense,
Just say no to evidence, and
People are not to blame! Oh, yeah!      Em7 A D-C-A
People are not to blame!                         Em7 A D

©Doug Hendren 2021

What’s it about?  A quarter way into the 21st century, there are still many Americans who deny that humans have seriously disrupted our climate, our oceans and atmosphere. The evidence is indisputable.

The roots of climate denial come from an organized and well-funded deception of the American public by a group of oil companies, led by Exxon, beginning in the mid 1970s (See my song Exxon Knew for details about this deception). Spoiler alert: They are doing it for money.

While there is nothing intrinsically “political” about climate science any more than there is about the law of gravity, the fossil fuel industry and their agents in Congress have heavily promoted climate denial, in order to protect their profits by delaying action to promote clean energy and energy efficiency, and wean ourselves from dependency on coal, oil and natural gas.

Unfortunately, the attitude of suspicion and resistance to what is now a veritable mountain of scientific evidence has in recent years become an article of faith among certain groups of American conservatives, and especially among evangelical Christian groups. There is really no rhyme or reason to this. And according to the National Academy of Science, about 90% of Christian religious leaders privately understand anthropogenic climate change, but do not discuss it with their congregations. As a result, strong ties between Big Oil interests, the Republican Party and evangelical Christian groups have led many otherwise intelligent and capable Americans to disregard essential science, and oppose responsible action.

Other strong conservatives like former congressman Bob Inglis, point out that energy independence, and market approaches to clean energy development are 100% aligned with traditional conservative values.

There is no rational justification for climate denial at this time. As my final verse suggests, it is a position that requires turning one’s back on both common sense and an enormous body of evidence.