It’s time to change the way we talk about climate change.

Political leaders have acknowledged human-driven (or “anthropogenic”) global warming since 1964 (when President Lyndon Johnson mentioned it in a speech to Congress). Since then, however, we’ve done almost nothing to address its dangers. As everyone knows, the problem is the political polarization of an issue that is, at its root, a scientific question.

But it’s more than that, too.

Our inability to even get past “yes, it’s happening” stems from the stories we’ve been telling about how climate change happened as well as what means about us and for us in terms of the human future.

That part of the story is just science and it is unassailable. Anyone who says otherwise is living in a fantasyland.”

So, today, I want to hit you with a different story and different perspective on this thing called climate change.

You ready? Here it goes.

It’s not our fault.

Climate change is not our fault.

Now, let me be clear about exactly what I mean. Yes, global warming is happening and, yes, it’s because of human activity. Specifically, climate change is occurring because the massive use of fossil fuels to power our global, social, industrial, etc., etc., etc., civilization.

That part of the story is just science and it is unassailable. Anyone who says otherwise is living in a fantasyland.