There is so much data out there now that confirms the climate models of human caused global warming, it is sometimes hard to believe that many Americans believe the issue is still not settled. Of course, we must remember that some of our elected leaders choose to ignore the evidence and pretend that everything is fine.
Bryan Farrell writes in The Nation about one example of Republicans embracing fiction over fact—literally:
President Bush invited [Michael] Crichton to speak to a private audience at the White House last year about his techno-thriller State of Fear, in which a group of eco-terrorists undertake a phony global warming scheme to earn government grants. Someone who attended the event said President Bush and his guest “talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement.”
. . . the American Association of Petroleum Geologists saw fit to give Crichton its 2006 Journalism Award, despite the book’s appearance on the New York Times list of best fiction sellers.
The Republicans have become the party of fiction. Turning the corner in Iraq, everything fine with global climate, just keeping on until the Rapture comes. Unfortunately, as is so often the case when you choose to base your ideas on falsehoods, there are real world consequences to deal with:
The Winds of Change includes in its appendices a chronology that tracks the accelerating pace of climate change, culminating with the record-breaking number of hurricanes. Linden said he could fill a few more pages with events like: 2005 was the warmest year in history; January 2006 was the warmest in US history; a winter hurricane in the North Atlantic; fierce wind storms in the Northeast; the wasting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets; and an emerging La Nina that could cause catastrophic droughts.
I’ve already blogged the Time cover story on climate change, as well as the stories of homeless Inuits, threatened Canadian forests, and unexpectedly fast glacial melting in Greenland. The consequences are all around us, and it is no time to be embracing fiction when we ought to be dealing with the facts.
So as we head towards November, make sure to remind everyone that they have a choice, between the party of fiction, and the party of truth.
“The consequences are all around us, and it is no time to be embracing fiction when we ought to be dealing with the facts.”
Nice one!
I would not finish Michael Crichton’s book. When I realized the direction he was going in and considering all of the uninformed masses so easily swayed by such popular fiction, I left a small note in the borrowed library book as a warning. Something to the effect of: This author has chosen to take a very irresponsible path in the face of such a horrible truth. Because he feels global warming is a fraud, be aware there is very good science that support the issue. Do as I did and send the book back to the shelf unfinished.
We in the Mid Atlantic region had a March with 4/100 of an inch of rain. That’s just never happened before and I’ve been here for 30 years. You can’t tell me nothing’s up. Open your eyes. There are signs all around. Another catastrophic hurricane season awaits.