It's the Environment, Stupid

Humorist Dave Barry once said that lab rats had to spell out with their food pellets: “Cigarettes Cause Cancer” before Big Tobacco “scientists” would accept the overwhelming evidence. What will it take for Big Oil to accept the evidence on global warming?

As reported in Newsweek’s August 13th cover story “Global Warming is a Hoax*, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), composed of 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries, concluded that “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal” It further concluded that that greenhouse gases released from burning of fossil fuels causes longer droughts, more flood-causing downpours and worse heat waves. Unfortunately, the panel also concluded that even if we act today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there will still be some degree of warming due to the fact that past emissions stay in the atmosphere for decades or more. On the other hand if we do not act at all, the IPCC concludes that there will be twice as much warming over the next two decades than if we had acted to stabilize these and other climate pollutants in the atmosphere at their 2000 levels.

So what does Big Oil say about all of this?
Incredibly, according to the Newsweek article, “a conservative think tank long funded by Exxon Mobil, offered scientists $10,000 to write articles undercutting the new report and the computer based climate models it is based on”.

We know the current administration’s track record on environmental stewardship, and its ties to Big Oil. While not ideal, I applaud the efforts of the western states to take matters into their own hands. Six western states and two Canadian provinces have joined to form a climate initiative partnership to reduce greenhouse gases regionally.

Clearly, the facts on climate change require a change in our environmental policy. The League of Conservation Voters can provide us with some direction and they have stated “compared to other candidates with public name recognition, in terms of specific proposals, Edwards stands alone, especially in the area of energy policy and climate change.” They have further indicated his potential for strong leadership in this area "Senator Edwards' plan demonstrates that he understands the magnitude of the challenge before us and the need for bold leadership to meet it."

Perhaps, like the rats spelling it out with their food pellets, it will take the cows to convince us. A recent study concluded “Rising carbon dioxide levels are almost certainly fueling the encroachment of shrubs on global grasslands, a trend that could eventually jeopardize the use of these lands for cattle grazing”

Exxon Mobil Global Warming Denial
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20122975/site/newsweek/

Union of concerned Scientists Findings of the IPCC http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/ipcc-highlights1.html

Six Western States and Canada Join to Cut Greenhouse Gases:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/22/BAGMQRNACP21.DTL&tsp=1

League of Conservation Voters
http://www.lcv.org/newsroom/press-releases/page.jsp?itemID=32451178

Rising CO2 levels:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/28/grazing_pla.html?category=earth&guid=20070828103000&dcitc=w01-101-ae-0002