There has been much hype about a series of stolen emails from the
Climate Research Unit (CRU) in the UK. Those who dismiss the evidence of
climate change have argued that these emails prove there is a global conspiracy
to mislead the public about global warming. We all wish global warming were not real. Unfortunately, that's
not what the facts show.
Don't get me wrong: I am disappointed in the way that some
of the authors of these emails acted. But I am disgusted at how the climate
change deniers are trying to overplay their hand. It appears their main goal is
to confuse the public in hopes of protecting our high-polluting status quo.
But the stakes are extremely high: the cost of not
addressing global warming today could be massive for our children and
grandchildren. And we have the technologies we need to solve this problem while
growing our economy. So let's take a look at the hand the deniers are trying to
use to confuse people and delay action.
Let's start with Dr.
John Holdren, a science advisor to President Obama who was confirmed
unanimously by the United States Senate. In recent testimony to the U.S. Senate,
he makes it extremely clear that the CRU emails change nothing about the
conclusions of climate science, and the urgent need for swift global action to
address the threat of global warming.
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Now, the
conspiracy theorists will say Dr. Holdren must be in on it, and that he's just
doing what is politically appropriate for his boss. But that doesn't line up
with how top U.S. scientists view the situation, according to this open letter to the US
Congress:
"The body of evidence that human activity is the dominant
cause of global warming is overwhelming. The content of the stolen emails has
no impact whatsoever on our overall understanding that human activity is
driving dangerous levels of global warming."
And then there's the letter
to Congress from 18 leading US scientific organizations, including the
prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science and the
American Meteorological Society, which states:
"Observations throughout the world make it clear that
climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that
the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These
conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary
assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of
peer-reviewed science. ... If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate
change, emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced."
In short, those who continue to deny the scientific
consensus about global warming will remain on the fringe. It sure would be nice
if a few emails could solve our global climate problem, but that is simply not
the case. Only political will from today's leaders will result in concerted
action.
And to those who continue to keep their heads in the sand,
ignoring the global scientific consensus about this serious problem, I would
say this:
Imagine all those scientists end up being wrong, but we
still take the action needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So we end up growing our economy in Canada by
23% over the next 10 years, we reduce local air pollution, we have a more
energy-efficient economy, we preserve tens of thousands of hectares of forest,
and we set ourselves on course to power our economy with endless renewable
energy.
That's one option. But what if you're wrong, and we see the
global warming that is being predicted by today's conservative models? Our kids
who will be alive in 2050 and even 2100 - such as my two-year-old son and my
infant daughter, who is due to arrive any day now - will be burdened with a
challenge that we caused and could have prevented.
My choice is to be guided by the science today and take
action now. It is the only responsible action left.
