Karin Kirk

Oh good! Thanks for asking and for diving into these conversations.

Hope some of this is helpful, and I'm always happy to help answer questions or rebut myths. It's a great hobby. 😅

It's pretty clear that oil companies are desperate to keep us chained to their products forever.

I like to ask deniers why they are *helping* oil companies keep them forever reliant on their products. Don't ppl value their own independence? Wouldn't they enjoy the ability to make their own energy?

The reason EVs and renewables are so cheap and awesome is they are supremely efficient. Efficiency is a nice argument to make because efficient things are widely appealing.

So many myths are simply lies about the efficiency of renewables.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/elec...

Gasoline is cheap right now — but charging an EV is still cheaper » Yale Climate Connections The price of home charging an EV in the U.S., on average, is equivalent to $1.41 per gallon.

Here's a map of how cheap gasoline would have to be in each state before it costs the same as home charging an EV.

How happy would these people be if gasoline were $1.26/ gallon?
EV drivers are that happy every day. Add solar and "gas" is FREE. Amazing!

yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/gaso...

Whenever possible, I tackle an parallel situation with a completely obvious takeaway.

So, batteries and solar panels may be expensive but they save lots of money in the long run.
Do these people have insulation in their houses? If so, why? It's so expensive! 🙃
Same argument for solar and EVs.

Claim: 10 cars rammed ICE
Truth: No cars rammed ICE

Claim: She boxed ICE in
Truth: ICE boxed her in

Claim: She shot a rifle at ICE
Truth: She did not have a rifle

Claim: ICE returned fire
Truth: Only ICE fired

Claim: She drove herself to the hospital
Truth: Paramedics found her

Go Holly! Nice work!

Any particular topic? There's so many myths! (too many, lol)

Nice work! That's a good thing to do. I've spent a lot of time in the trenches with climate deniers, too. The upside is that I've learned the rebuttal to all the popular myths. The volcanoes myths are just off by soooo much, it's hard not to step in. Happy to offer more data if needed!

I read that as "plaid insurrectionists" which is excellent because it's more accurate.

Volcanoes emit carbon dioxide, but not nearly as much as humans » Yale Climate Connections Humanity produces an amount roughly equivalent to the eruption of Mount St. Helens every 2.5 hours.

Just in case you're ever in the mood to refute this nonsense:

It would take more than 3, full-tilt Mt. St. Helens eruptions
all at the same time,
all day,
every day
to equal the rate of human CO2 pollution. 🌋🌋🌋

yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/03/volc...

Rejection of reality is the foundation of their entire worldview.

sort of mirrors my own feelings because it was a toss-up. I love them both!

BREAKING: Republicans just voted against a bill to fund government AND save your health care.

Help make sure Americans know Republicans are SO determined to let premiums DOUBLE that they would rather SHUTDOWN the government than work to avert this crisis.

Similarly, using dumb talking points to think of better responses next time is all upside. After awhile I feel like I've heard it all and it makes it so easy to respond calmly.

So even if I walk away from a troll, that's a totally positive outcome for me because I made a choice to use my time and energy productively by cutting off the trolling person and moving on to the next door. Total "win" for me, because I felt undeterred every time I did that.

Oh I wasn't talking about online interactions, but I think the same reasoning could apply to any setting.
It's not literally winning or losing per se, I see it more as having a positive, productive outcome or not.

I'll add: I have not run for office but I've knocked on thousands of doors in a red state, so I've had a lot of practice to figure out what works for me.

What's helped me is to frame it as strategy. If trolls slow me down, then I'm less effective, and the troll wins. If a troll's dumb talking point gives me an opportunity to come up with a response for the next time, then I win. If I learn which trolls to ignore and walk away from, then I win again.

Yes! This. All day long, a thousand times this.

That's great to hear. I asked my boss that exact question as she was ending my contract prematurely. It didn't work out for me but I hope this can save other people's jobs.

So fitting, so perfect. It will be reclaimed by the seas and a least one tiny bit of balance will be restored.

They're also total hypocrites on being good for the economy. Coal is expensive, even before you consider the horrid impact of pollution. Propping up coal has got to be one of the worst uses of taxpayer money I can imagine.

yes!

This only happens to you once

While EPA's data ranks the Colstrip power plant in Montana as the 10th highest emitter of CO2, satellite and aircraft monitoring show it actually ranks 5th when running at full capacity.

Daily Caller Opinion Column ‘Explicitly’ Calls for Violence

If Democrats don't make this the biggest story in the country for the next several days - and either force Republicans to denounce it or not, what are we even doing here? Every voter should know about this. (Imagine what would happen if, say, Mother Jones wrote this.) www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/b...

I beg you not to use the word "believe."
Instead, you can say that people "understand" or "accept" that climate change is caused mostly by human activity.

People might believe in Santa Claus. But climate change is not a belief any more than gravity or plate tectonics are beliefs.