We have been distracted by climate change and have let governments dictate the agenda.
And it's not as though the branches doing Nasa's climate research are distracting other branches of the agency from conducting deep space exploration.
The denial and deliberation from extremists on both sides about the causes of climate change are distracting us from addressing its inarguable effects.
Plausibly, it could well be that the recent upsurge in stupidity is not only distracting us from the need to fight climate change.
Tim Yeo, Conservative chairman of the House of Commons' energy and climate committee, said economic and budget troubles had understandably distracted ministers from the climate problem.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, climate change sceptics were not particularly worried that geoengineering would distract attention from other climate policies.
After traveling the globe and examining the many green, market-based solutions available to conscientious consumers, Rogers finds that, at best, these so-called solutions are distracting us from finding real ways to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Instead, in the years since, corruption scandals such as the one that blew up this week over coal allocations and a nastily divisive political climate have distracted everyone.Deferential Mr Singh, who might once have been expected to spearhead any reform efforts, turns 80 this year.
Australia has been fiercely resisting climate change discussions at the summit and does not want it distracting from its desired focus on "economic growth and jobs".
Here's an excerpt from one of my previous posts laying out how the fight over climate-related energy policy is incredibly lopsided regardless of who's spending more money: In reality, those defending the status quo in energy and climate policy have always only needed the slightest bit of doubt and distracting uncertainty to maintain society's comfortable inertia on energy.
