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pbmus

(12,418 posts)
Fri May 9, 2014, 08:13 PM May 2014

Politicians appear in denial on climate change

WASHINGTON – If a politician were told that, after lengthy study and analysis, more than 97 percent of political observers concluded that that politician was going to lose, do you think such a warning would spur a campaign to immediate action?

Of course. Unless the politician was delusional.

Well, consider this: Precisely that overwhelming percentage of scientists involved in climate research have concluded that there has been “unequivocal” warming of the Earth’s average global temperature in recent decades and that human-generated greenhouse gases are mostly responsible.

But while it is evident that the science of climate change, also known as global warming, is convincing and conclusive, it is not an exaggeration to say that the politics of an issue that will determine the fate of the planet is quite unsettled.

Last week, the Obama administration released a landmark, 800-page climate assessment report that essentially told the public that climate change is a threat and is affecting every part of the nation (and, of course, the rest of the globe). The sea levels are rising, floods and storm surges are more severe, rains are more intense in the Northeast, droughts and wildfires more pronounced in the West. The changes are affecting or will affect, among other things, where we live and work, how healthy we are, what we grow and what we eat and what other species will thrive or perish, including us.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/carroll/2014/05/09/politicians-appear-denial-climate-change/8917045/

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Or they are paid to be in denial

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