In a recent Washington Post article, A senator in a hostile climate, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), stated,
"Eleven academies in industrialized countries say that climate change is real; humans have caused most of the recent warming. If fire chiefs of the same reputation told me my house was about to burn down, I'd buy some fire insurance."
A voice of reason! At this point it's ridiculous to even argue that climate change exists or that it's causes are anthropogenic, but people still do. I recently got into a debate about this with a coworker. He sent me an e-mail quoting an article he'd read that repeated the same arguments against climate change that we always hear and that are easily refuted. I replied to his e-mail, taking each of his points, putting them in quotes, and embarrassingly blowing them apart with facts, figures, and reputable scientific research. I closed my e-mail with a snide comment offering my gratitude for him allowing me to sharpen my claws with this friendly debate...and there was something about bringing a pea-shooter to a gun fight. Perhaps not the most tactful comments ever but he got the gist of it all and actually thanked me for the great information.
One of the points I offered up was the difference in ramifications if climate skeptics are wrong versus if climate scientists are wrong. If skeptics are wrong then we still live in a more sustainable world...I don't see much wrong with that. If scientists are wrong then we live in a world of pollution, of famine, of climate change refugees, and of continuous wars over resources. That's a big difference.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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The other tactic I like (aside from the fact that there are no more scientists who dispute these claims) is to consider what those early naysayers had to gain by making false claims - big bucks from big corporations who had a lot to lose from an enlightened public.
ReplyDeleteWe have a history of fear mongering in the country, and I have heard those claims made against environmentalists who speak of global warming. But here's the difference: environmentalists have nothing to gain from this claim. They are not selling a panacea, just begging us to open our eyes!