A few weeks ago, I posted about a documentary called Before the Flood, which was very eye-opening for me. It helped me realize how little I actually understood about the implications our everyday actions as consumers and human beings have for the environment. The weekend after, I had a very interesting discussion with a climate change denier. For anonymity purposes, I will refrain from identifying this person as I describe my recollection of the conversation.

The conversation reached a point where I was talking about my dislike for ground meat. This led me to share a new personal decision of mine; I am no longer eating red meat. This isn’t really difficult for me, as I never ate it often before anyway. I made this decision as a result of watching Before the Flood. The climate change denier immediately jumped on my newfound decision with a few quips, the first of which included California’s new idea of harnessing cow flatulence in an attempt to regulate methane production. While I agree that this idea is completely ridiculous, it still doesn’t address the point—there are simply too many cows. While I realize my small decision may not have any large-scale implications, it accomplishes something on a small scale. I can help inform people about a number of methane cows produce, so they can make a well-informed decision on the type of consumerism they’d like to support.

The next point brought up was the hockey-stick graph created by Michael Mann, a graph that has sparked a huge debate. He explained to me that the data was completely faked by numerous scientists to a complete extreme. His dramatization of the graph is incorrect. Mann collaborated with only two other scientists, both from the U.S. While others may have stepped up and supported the graph during the time it appeared, it doesn’t really matter. While the data may be depicted to an extreme, it doesn’t change the facts—climate change is happening. 97% of climate change scientists agree. There is actually real and tangible evidence (such as the ice caps melting), not just graphs full of predictions.

The next point highlighted a problem that is all too common amongst most Americans. The individual brought up a personal friend who had lived in Brazil for years and lived in a house powered by solar panels. They mentioned how the person had to take a cold shower every single morning. They thought that was absolutely ridiculous, and said they did not want to give up their hot showers and basic amenities. Brazil, particularly Rio, is also not nearly as privileged as most Americans, and this individual probably didn’t understand that just because one solar energy user had to take a cold shower every day, doesn’t mean they had to make that sacrifice. This illustrates another deep-rooted issue. Individuals lack any desire to make a lifestyle change and are thus much happier to continue to function and allow future generations to worry about it themselves.

Oh yeah. This individual also said that future generations could worry about this issue because the predictions have been indicating a worsening climate for so long that it probably won’t happen. But who is this denier to make such a decision for the future of planet earth? The world may literally never know.