Jon Gabriel

opinion contributor

Every week, the prophecies become more frightful.

“As Earth faces climate catastrophe, US set to open nearly 200 power plants,” a USA Today headline warns.

In the UK, The Guardian proclaims, “World 'gravely' unprepared for effects of climate crisis.” For the New Yorker, it’s already too late: “What if We Stopped Pretending the Climate Apocalypse Can Be Stopped?”

Activists, politicians and many in the media have stopped heralding the benefits of a cleaner, greener policy. No time to promote clear skies, green hills or a better quality of life. Instead, it’s all fear, all the time.

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, chose fear as a centerpiece of her message.

“I don’t want your hope,” she told the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. “I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. “

Davos attendees dutifully applauded as aircrews refueled their fleet of private jets.

We want change, but not if we must change

For some reason, voters aren’t eager to feel fear every day. Sure, they claim that climate change is important, but not if it requires changing their lifestyle, even a little.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 69% of Americans want aggressive action to combat climate change.

So far, so good.

How many would support a rate hike of $100 a year to tackle the problem? Only 29%.

The years-long fear campaign hasn’t worked; any Marketing 101 student would change the messaging. Instead, progressive politicians just ramp up the panic.

Throughout our lives, eco-fearmongering has been a constant. My first-grade teacher handed out maps showing how a pollution-caused ice age would soon cover our Chicago suburb with a glacier. Mom eased the panic with a reminder we were moving to Phoenix that summer.

After that, acid rain was going to kill us, then the ozone hole, then global warming, then “global weirding,” and now, climate change. Granted, the climate has always changed, but progressives think it started about a century ago.

Despite the wildly different scenarios, from freezing oceans to boiling ones, the solution is always the same: curtail capitalism and let government control more of our lives.

Hypocrisy will get them nowhere

This was the main message coming out of CNN’s seven-hour climate town halls, featuring all the major Democratic presidential primary candidates.

Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed using federally funded abortions as a means of population control. Mayor Pete Buttigieg called climate change “a kind of sin” but defended his private air travel “because this is a very big country.”

Former vice president Joe Biden promised to "take millions of vehicles off the road” via high-speed rail. The next day, he held a fundraiser co-hosted by a fossil fuel magnate.

The hypocrisy is galling, but it reveals that so many environmental doomsayers don’t actually believe we’re in a crisis at all.

To Thunberg’s credit, at least she avoids air travel. The same can’t be said for her audience or those grasping for power parroting her message.

Rising sea levels are threatening to destroy coastal communities, yet former President Barack Obama just bought a $15 million estate on Martha’s Vineyard. Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince Harry and others in the top 0.1% flew to a Google Camp in Sicily, requiring 117 separate flights. Seems like a Google Hangout would be better for the planet.

Fear is a good motivator, but it hasn’t worked for those seeking action on climate change. Voters aren’t willing to sacrifice for Gaia, and neither are the politicians demanding their votes.

Until the alarmists start behaving like there is a crisis, they shouldn’t expect everyday Americans to believe them.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @exjon.