Time to act on climate change (You too Republicans)
Our View: Time to act on climate change:
Skeptics of global warming are now working overtime to discredit and divert attention from the latest worrisome news about the planet’s feverish climate.
I agree with the author of this Opinion Editorial of my local paper. Traditionally those on the right in the US have been “Global Warming Deniers”. The tide is, I believe, turning with more prominent leaders coming out with such statements that accept the fact that Climate Change is a real issue. President Bush has acknowledged this fact for example.
The rapid industrialization of the past 150 years has caused, and continues to cause damage to the planet. Unhealthy air quality is an accepted form of this damage. Sometimes skeptics of Climate Change also argue that our Bad Air has nothing to do with the cars on the road – this I find highly amusing.
With regards to Global Warming, skeptics sometimes argue that there is no “proof”, and jump on the “i told you so” band wagon every time there is a record low temperature, or just a chilly day. Perhaps we should remember that the issue at hand is more aptly named “Climate Change”.
We can say the following for sure:
1. We have created an immense amount of greenhouse gases globally (not just in the US) over the past 150 years.
2. We do know that greenhouse gas production has in the past caused a global temperature rise. (See Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum).
Given these 2 accepted historical events it is reasonable to postulate that 1 can cause 2 in our future.
Perhaps it is time to try and put this to bed and commission some studies to verify these facts.
But of course government spending is usually something that Climate Change deniers are also against. So basically the choice as is presented by such people is:
a) It doesn’t exist.
b) We won’t have the science done to prove it, just trust us.
As a conservative, it really rubs me the wrong way when I hear my fellow conservatives being so short sighted. In the Republican Presidential Candidate debate last night I was heartened to see at least some of the candidates acknowledge that we have a problem, we caused it, and it is our job to fix it.
