In AWord- Denial - Environmentally it's not a river in Egypt
Gerald Eisman
July 17, 2006
Denial: A refusal to grant the truth of a statement or allegation; a contradiction.
Since Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, hit theaters around the nation, global warming has become one of the hottest topics in the media. The film warns of a future that includes melting glaciers, horrific hurricanes, parched earth and wildfires along with rising seas that could flood Florida and Manhattan. Much of the cause has been blamed on human activity
Anyone doubting the effects of human activity on global climate change should talk to the people of Alaska and the Yukon,” said Senator John McCain. We are convinced that the overwhelming evidence indicated that climate change is taking place and human activities play a very large role,” he said.
According to record keepers, 2005 was the hottest year in American history and the first half of 2006 was even hotter, setting yet another record. Dry conditions have spawned over 50,000 wildfires consuming more than three million acres in the continental U. S. Moreover, as of June, 45 percent of the country is in the throes of a moderate to severe drought, representing a six percent increase over the previous year.
Despite such facts and mountainous quantities of data demonstrating the existence of global warming, there is a group of gentlemen who deny the existence of the process. They don’t deny the existence of climate change but they say it isn’t a real threat.
These gentlemen include analysts at conservative think-tanks, a few isolated scientists at some leading universities and Republican Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate environment committee.
Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said this. “At the end of the day, it will all be revealed as a bad joke.”
That kind of thinking insults the findings of what the vast majority of scientists believe, tending to give many people a false sense of security according to Daniel Lashof, science director of the climate center for the Natural Resource s Defense Council. Lashof pointed out the reports by the National Academy of Sciences and United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that demonstrate the problem and real and present danger.
Most skeptics of global warming have been convinced by the volume of data supporting the problem and are now aware of the seriousness of the threat,” Lashof said.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican), who accompanied Senators McCain, Clinton, and Susan Collins (R-Maine) declared himself to be uncertain about legislation concerning climate change. As he said, “If you can go to the native people and listen to their stories and walk away with any doubt that something’s going on, I just think you’re not listening.”
McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman D-Connecticut. are sponsoring legislation that would set limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from utilities and industries. Opposing such legislation is Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee. In his expert scientific opinion, the warming is attributable to natural cycles.
Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute feel put out that they are looked at askance and put in the same class as flat-earthers and Holocaust deniers. As He puts it, all he is trying to do is protect Americans from job losses and higher energy prices that would result from governmental cuts in the use of fossil fuels.
The megaphone that the global warming alarmists have is so big that they are able to sway public opinion,” Ebell said. It is not surprising Ebell would make a statement such as that considering his institute receives funding from ExxonMobil, one of the largest fossil fuel processors.
It may sound reasonable to say ‘better safe than sorry’ so lets go ahead and do something about global warming,” Ebell said, “but the risk of creating a world where energy is rationed and a lot of people are starved for energy is a bigger risk than global warming.”
An even larger risk is to do nothing and listen to those who can be considered members of the lunatic fringe who put money or reputation ahead of the survival of the human race.
Since Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, hit theaters around the nation, global warming has become one of the hottest topics in the media. The film warns of a future that includes melting glaciers, horrific hurricanes, parched earth and wildfires along with rising seas that could flood Florida and Manhattan. Much of the cause has been blamed on human activity
Anyone doubting the effects of human activity on global climate change should talk to the people of Alaska and the Yukon,” said Senator John McCain. We are convinced that the overwhelming evidence indicated that climate change is taking place and human activities play a very large role,” he said.
According to record keepers, 2005 was the hottest year in American history and the first half of 2006 was even hotter, setting yet another record. Dry conditions have spawned over 50,000 wildfires consuming more than three million acres in the continental U. S. Moreover, as of June, 45 percent of the country is in the throes of a moderate to severe drought, representing a six percent increase over the previous year.
Despite such facts and mountainous quantities of data demonstrating the existence of global warming, there is a group of gentlemen who deny the existence of the process. They don’t deny the existence of climate change but they say it isn’t a real threat.
These gentlemen include analysts at conservative think-tanks, a few isolated scientists at some leading universities and Republican Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate environment committee.
Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said this. “At the end of the day, it will all be revealed as a bad joke.”
That kind of thinking insults the findings of what the vast majority of scientists believe, tending to give many people a false sense of security according to Daniel Lashof, science director of the climate center for the Natural Resource s Defense Council. Lashof pointed out the reports by the National Academy of Sciences and United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that demonstrate the problem and real and present danger.
Most skeptics of global warming have been convinced by the volume of data supporting the problem and are now aware of the seriousness of the threat,” Lashof said.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican), who accompanied Senators McCain, Clinton, and Susan Collins (R-Maine) declared himself to be uncertain about legislation concerning climate change. As he said, “If you can go to the native people and listen to their stories and walk away with any doubt that something’s going on, I just think you’re not listening.”
McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman D-Connecticut. are sponsoring legislation that would set limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from utilities and industries. Opposing such legislation is Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee. In his expert scientific opinion, the warming is attributable to natural cycles.
Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute feel put out that they are looked at askance and put in the same class as flat-earthers and Holocaust deniers. As He puts it, all he is trying to do is protect Americans from job losses and higher energy prices that would result from governmental cuts in the use of fossil fuels.
The megaphone that the global warming alarmists have is so big that they are able to sway public opinion,” Ebell said. It is not surprising Ebell would make a statement such as that considering his institute receives funding from ExxonMobil, one of the largest fossil fuel processors.
It may sound reasonable to say ‘better safe than sorry’ so lets go ahead and do something about global warming,” Ebell said, “but the risk of creating a world where energy is rationed and a lot of people are starved for energy is a bigger risk than global warming.”
An even larger risk is to do nothing and listen to those who can be considered members of the lunatic fringe who put money or reputation ahead of the survival of the human race.
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