Despite Progress US Senate Continues to Let World Down on Climate Change
The United States Senate shares the distinction with Exxon Mobil/Esso (a campaign target at http://www.climateark.org/action/alert.asp?id=Exxon ) of being the biggest obstacle to international climate change policy-making. All Senators – both Democrat and Republican – failed to show climate leadership by refusing to ratify the Kyoto Treaty. And with shockingly shallow arguments - it is disingenuous to expect dirt poor countries to limit emissions on the same time table as the super affluent nations. To say so is merely cover for doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. And while increasing numbers of Senators may now understand that the science behind climate change is rock solid, with potentially devastating impacts, there still remains a deadly dearth of policy in response.
Indeed, a core group of conservative reactionary Republicans have gone further – denying, distorting and indeed obstructing well established climate science. Most recently Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas has demanded data and financial records from leading climate scientists. Their offense was authoring a highly rigorous scientific study reporting a sharp rise in global temperatures during the 20th century, based on an analysis of tree rings, glacial ice and coral layers (see http://www.realclimate.org/ for more information). This Congressional intimidation of respected climate scientists smacks of McCarthyism – and comes from an individual deeply indebted to oil companies. This is criminally negligent behavior in the face of climate change that portends possible global ecological collapse.
While almost as many registered and self-described Republicans as Democrats agree that the climate is changing and human activity is responsible, any response that will prove sufficient depends first upon Republicans reigning in their climate denying ideologues. And it is well past time for all Senators to move beyond recognizing the problem, and start producing difficult but essential policy solutions. All right minded and responsible Senators must immediately and urgently support modest existing Democratic and moderate Republican initiatives to set targets to cut emissions, while vastly increasing support for energy conservation and renewable energy programs. While this would just the beginning of steps necessary to reform industrial society in the face of looming climate change, nonetheless a start must be made in these directions immediately.
