Earlier this month the international panel on climate change released its fourth annual report, reviewed by hundreds of esteemed scientists worldwide, stating that climate change is undeniably caused by increased global carbon emissions due to human activity. The report received wide media attention and the overwhelming concensus is that the climate change debate is over.
That's why I was shocked as all hell to hear Oregon Senator Gordon Smith say this morning to a roomful of Portland business leaders, in essence, that yes scientists say climate change is real, but it's only a "7/10's of one percent" increase in temperature and that Greenland, now covered in ice, was once a temperate farmland. This after stating his support for our state's new focus on sustainable industries.
"I believe mankind is having an impact, I just don't know the percentage of that impact," Smith said.
I would expect such a business-friendly politician to seize the opportunity global warming awareness has created to capitalize on sustainable industries. Instead, I heard a politician having a hard time admitting he was wrong.
Smith's website
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment