Tuesday, May 17, 2011
There are truthers who think the Sept. 11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government. Then there are birthers who believe President Obama isn't native born. And then there are the deniers who refused to accept the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.
A study by an agency of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's premier scientific think tank, stated the case in plain, bumper-sticker English: "Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused primarily by human activities and poses significant risks to humans and the environment."
Scientists must be tired from writing the same warnings and watching Washington crumple up the findings. In this case, though, Congress requested the study and the authors were from business and politics along with academia.
The report gave an approving nod to limiting carbon dioxide emissions - the central culprit in climate change - via a federal pricing system. That sounds a lot like the cap-and-trade bill approved in the House in 2009 that died in the Senate.
The resounding silence that greeted the report speaks volumes about Washington's mind-set. Republicans have blocked legislation by casting doubt on the future scenarios and lamenting higher energy costs if the nation veers from coal and petroleum. Democrats have bowed timidly too.
But surely as a record snowfall in the Sierra or flood along the Mississippi, the issue won't fade. Washington can't say it wasn't warned.
This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco ChronicleRetrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/17/EDG01JH7MB.DTL
No comments:
Post a Comment