Sam Belfied in his essay, “Climate Activism: ‘It Made Me Feel Like a Good Person’” (August 19, 2026), has a number of interesting insights on the motivations of climate campaigners given the intellectual case that their cause is both futile and wasteful. And ecologically damaging (think wind and solar industrialization). Excerpts follow verbatim; footnotes can be found in the original.

The following commentary and research findings suggest that climate ideology and activism are psychological compensatory responses to painful, emotional, subjective, and even existential aspects of the self. Specifically, the material suggests a deeper and collective psychological malaise, of which anxiety and distress about climate change are an expression, not the root cause….

The climate movement involves guilt, self-loathing and seeking redemption

In discussing the emotions motivating climate activists, commentators have proposed ‘guilt,’ ‘self-flagellation,’ ‘sin,’ ‘self-loathing’ , ‘conscience’, and seeking ‘atonement’ and ‘redemption.’…