On a swift boat to a warmer world

[YankeyMCC]

(snip)
Unfortunately, I am a little less optimistic today than I was a couple of weeks ago, before testifying at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. It was Senator James Inhofe's last hearing as chair of the committee, and the focus was on media coverage of global warming. I was invited by the Democratic staff to counter arguments that global warming is a hoax perpetrated on the American people by scientists like me.
(snip)

(snip)
Then I watched in horror as Inhofe's witnesses spouted outrageous claims intended to deceive and distort. Two were scientists associated with industry-funded think tanks. They described global warming as a "mass delusion" among the scientific community, sowing confusion by misrepresenting the ice core data that connects carbon dioxide and temperature over glacial cycles, and claiming that "global warming stopped in 1998" -- an anomalously warm year. They even recommended burning as much fossil fuel as possible to prevent another ice age.
(snip)

(snip)
I later learned that Inhofe's communications director, Marc Morano, was a key figure in publicizing the swift boat veterans' attack on John Kerry in 2004. Morano, it seems, is still up to his old tricks, twisting the facts to support his boss's outrageous claims. This made my visit complete: a glimpse at our government that sees the world only through glasses tinted by special interests, which treats science as a political football, no matter what is at stake.
(snip)

(snip)
I am still an optimist. We still have time to avert a climate catastrophe. But I am not counting on government, or at least this government, to lead us toward a solution. As our leaders accept the outrageous spectacle I saw the other day as just a normal day in Congress, we will have to take the first step without them.
(snip)


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/17/on_a_swift_boat_to_a_warmer_world/

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. The difference between ignoring global warming and, say,

ignoring the stats on safety rules for trucks is that even a lot of unsafe trucks will only affect the lives of a few people, whereas global warming will effect us all. Where will these big corporations be when we have massive climate change and dieoff? Do they really think they can "take it with them"?

[iamjoy]

2. It's Why We MUST Keep The Senate

Sometimes, I feel very callous because when I think about Senator Johnson (SD)'s illness, I don't think of a man with a family, I think mostly of what this could mean for control of the Senate - I wouldn't be half as worried if it were a Senator from a state with a Democratic Governor.

But, then I think - well, if he doesn't recover, that is a tragedy for his family, but it is also a tragedy for our country and the world. If he doesn't recover, it's the difference between James Inhofe or Barbara Boxer chairing the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. This means in some ways, the fate of the world hinges partly on Johnson's recovery.

Or, am I being melodramatic?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Don't think so

a lot of times, history has changed because of the actions of one person.

[YankeyMCC]

4. I disagree

I mean I agree that Dem controlled Senate is important for many reasons. Perhaps it would be better also for dealing with the climate crisis but the key point of this piece is we CAN NOT wait for our so called leadership.

It isn't to the Democratic controlled Senate or Republican controlled Senate we should be looking to for leadership. It is US, it needs to be a popular movement like the popular labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Changing our living habits. Continual pressure on leaders of all political persuasion. Participating in community conservation. Getting the next generation connected again to the land by bringing them out into it and teaching them what we know (or as is more likely learning together with them).

We can not wait for the Senate or any government body control by any particular party.