On this dayApril 5 2008 Charlton Heston died. What the hell has this got to do with climate change?
Well, two things. One, superficially, Heston was the star of the first Hollywood movie to mention the greenhouse effect. Soylent Green, released in April of 1973, has the following exchange
More deeply Charlton Heston is a good example of one of the problems that environmentalists face from a demographic and gender perspective. Namely, this Heston was a small-l liberal as a younger man and made the right noises about desegregation and racial justice. But as he aged, he became steadily more right wing, especially on the issue of gun control. And he became a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association (which is not a social movement organisation but is a lobby group disguised as a social movement organisation). “You’ll pry my gun from my cold dead fingers.”
And this move is one that men often make. Especially men as they age, and it means that it’s really hard to sustain the concern for the environment, which becomes framed as a woman’s issue.
Why this matters.
People take their cues from those they admire. We are very very social animals. And when a “macho” man’s man like Charlton Heston goes all anti-reflexive, it matters…
What happened next?
Well, last time I checked, Heston was still dead and the C02 was still accumulating.