Except in the clearest of circumstances, such as the reality of the Holocaust, continuing the public dialogue around the crucial issue of climate change with the skeptics voices being heard is sound public policy, as many can still remember the past alarms that were raised about the population bomb that would starve us to death, and the coming ice age that would freeze us to death; so remaining skeptical about climate change heating us to death might be worthwhile.
It is rarely a good idea to cut off public discussion around the possible dispersal of huge sums of public money.
In the meantime, most of the green oriented advances technology and government continues to embrace are good things.
Editorial: It's time for a bolder move on climate change
Sens. Boxer and Feinstein and Rep. Pelosi could move the U.S. forward dramatically
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Skeptics of global warming are now working overtime to discredit and divert attention from the latest worrisome news about the planet's feverish climate.
Scientists have learned that warmer winds and temperatures are melting the Arctic ice cap much faster than expected. The meltdown has exposed 1 million square miles of open water in the Arctic, about the size of six Californias. To get a sense of the scope, go to The New York Times Web site, click on "science," and view the interactive graphic that accompanies Andrew C. Revkin's story, "Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts."
In a flurry of op-eds and sound bites, the skeptics will tell you this melt-off is natural and just a prelude to a period of cooling.
Don't believe it. Respected scientific institutions, ranging from the National Academy of Sciences to the British Royal Society, agree that man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases are heating up the atmosphere. The melt-off of polar ice sheets is just one symptom of this fever, which is expected to lead to ever-higher sea levels, more intense storms and other devastating consequences.
The question now is whether Congress will stand up to fossil fuel industries that continue to try to deny and delay. A triumvirate of congresswomen from California -- Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- could be instrumental in ensuring Congress doesn't waste another year in enacting meaningful climate legislation.
