Climate change, does anybody with a brain deny that this existential situation exists? Well, in the Trump administration, one cannot even articulate the two word set, Climate Change as this goes against the notion of short term profit at the expense of the environment, not to mention, the country as this administration continues to unravel the underpinnings of what made this country the most successful the world has ever known.
Adherence to outdated tech, like coal, at the expense of not pursuing sustainable tech, is economic and environmental suicide, concepts alien to the worst administration this country has ever had.
At a congressional hearing on climate science Wednesday, Michael Mann lamented that he was the only witness representing the overwhelming scientific consensus that manmade global warming poses a major threat.
"We find ourselves at this hearing today, with three individuals who represent that tiny minority that reject this consensus or downplay its significance, and only one—myself—who is in the mainstream," he said in his opening testimony.
"I think the intention is to cause scientists to retreat."
Sitting on either side of Mann were the other three witnesses: Judith Curry, John Christy, and Roger Pielke, Jr.—scientists who have clashed with Mann in the past and are frequently sought after by Republican politicians who reject mainstream climate science. Curry recently defended EPA chief Scott Pruitt's statement that scientists don't know whether human activity is "a primary contributor" to global warming. Christy claims that climate models overstate the role of human activity. Pielke accepts the role greenhouse gasses play in warming but has drawn criticism for arguing that links between extreme weather and climate change have been overstated.
Sitting on the dais across from Mann was House science committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), a climate change denier who has made headlines in recent years by using his committee to investigate scientists and accuse them of rigging climate data. Last week, at the Heartland Institute's annual DC conference for climate change deniers, Smith boasted of his record of issuing dozens of subpoenas to government researchers, environmental groups, and Democratic attorneys general investigating ExxonMobil. He also previewed Wednesday's hearing, predicting that it was "going to be so much fun." He slow-rolled the names of the witnesses as conference attendees cheered—but he warned them they might want to hold their applause until he finished reading name of the final witness, which was Mann.
Astounding says it all.
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