I’m saying exactly what I said. One poster offered up a notion that people who weren’t bought into the man is responsible for the climate changing are climate change deniers or that climate change is fake. I don’t find that to be true in most cases where I talk to people about their opinion on the matter.
Some folks agree the climate changes and has changed since the Earth was born. I mean, I live on what was once covered in water and turned to dry land prior to arrival of any human being. The disagreement is to what extent humans are causing the climate to change above and beyond what nature would do on its own and secondly how that human caused change impacts the globe and our ability to survive it.
I've had this discussion a few times with my brother. We were both Geology minors at UNL where we learned about the many major climate shifts the Earth went through long before the first human even lit a fire. He takes this as evidence this latest cycle is not manmade. I point out that everything the two of us leaned about climate science came from books and lectures from climate scientists. While we went on to totally non-science careers, they continued their dedication to climate science. And their nearly unanimous conclusion is that the billions of tons of carbon put into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution likely play a part in the undisputed fact of rising temperatures and sea levels, and increasingly severe climate events. These same folks made global warming models 40 years ago, but the trend has accelerated far faster than their predictions.
You might say nature can do the same thing through a Krakatoa explosion (earth cooling in that case) but that just means humans are willfully cranking out our own Krakatoas.
Of course you will find a small agitated segment calling for a ban on cars and cows, but that's not what most of us are talking about, here. You can also find plenty of misspent dollars on climate science, but you'd also have to figure in the legit energy efficiency breakthroughs that came with it. Energy efficiency isn't a tree-hugger thing, it's a smart investment thing.
What doesn't help is going in the completely opposite direction, where Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis banish the words "climate change" from government documents in a state already dealing with the consequences, and where a surprising 90% of residents believe climate change is real.
And Archy, are you still convinced the Trump administration is committed to the bare minimum of clean air and water? Everything coming out of new EPA head Lee Zeldin's mouth suggests otherwise:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator
Lee Zeldin on Thursday pitched the Trump administration’s
deregulation effort as a step that will make it easier for Americans to buy a car, heat their homes and operate small businesses.
“People who are looking for employment are going to have more opportunities,” Zeldin added.
The remarks come a day after the EPA indicated it plans to slash a
broad suite of rules and determinations that aim to cut pollution or mitigate climate change — including from cars and power plants.
The EPA said it would consider rolling back Biden-era regulations that are expected to
sharply increase the number of electric vehicles sold as well as
speed coal plant closures. It is also considering rolling back regulations on the neurotoxin
mercury coming from power plants and general
air pollution limits for deadly soot.
The agency also said it would reconsider the finding that
climate change poses a threat to the public — which lays the regulatory groundwork for further climate action. Additionally, the agency indicated it would close offices dedicated to fighting pollution
in underserved and minority communities around the country.
