If you take 100 scientists that are representative of scientists across our country, 97 will confirm that global warming is real while the other three will deny it. Some will deny it because they love being contrarians, and some will deny it because their job depends on denying it.The public policy problem is that special interests are prepared to spend large sums of money to give those three a platform to express their denial. Obvious supporters of the deniers are the coal, petroleum and gas companies. A necessary step to avoid disastrous global warming is to cut way back on fossil fuel consumption, and these companies are furious about such an idea.
A less obvious source of denial is an article by Ed Ring of the California Policy Center. He paints a glorious future supported by relentless consumption of fossil fuel. That’s a lovely future if we could have it. On the other hand, if you care about what kind of world that our grandchildren inherit from us, then it’s an impossible dream. You can read his article at http://californiapolicycenter.org/the-abundance-choice/
I am always interested in who is really speaking. A little research revealed a sequence of connections starting with the California Policy Center that eventually led to Charles and David Koch. Whatever the Koch brothers want is generally good for the top 1% and very bad for the 99%. Once global warming has done it ugly thing, the 1% can move to wherever life is still tolerable while the 99% sweat it out back at home. By the way, 2014 was the hottest year on record.
Cameron Burley,
Mariposa
