OPINION:
President Obama told Americans in his recent (and last) State of the Union address: “Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise, or when even basic facts are contested, or when we listen only to those who agree with us. Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get all the attention.” Yet the president will not compromise with or even listen to the many highly qualified scientists who contest his position on climate change.
Instead he heeds the most extreme voices in the debate, people such as ex-NASA scientist James Hansen and others who exaggerate the climate scare to ridiculous levels that even left-wing scientists disdain.
In his last year, Mr. Obama must do the following:
1. Stop referring to those who question the causes of climate change as people ’on the fringe’ of science who should be shunned. As shown by the reports of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), there are literally thousands of peer-reviewed papers in the world’s leading science journals that shed doubt on or outright refute the Obama administration’s position on climate change.
2. Stop his dangerous ’war on coal’ to supposedly stop climate change. Coal is America’s cheapest and most abundant power source and its use must be expanded, not reduced, if soaring electricity prices and massive unemployment is to be avoided.
3. Start telling the truth about the Paris Agreement on climate change and other nonsensical attempts to stop global warming. Developing countries emit the most carbon dioxide, yet the United Nations has given them an opt-out clause. So even if the United Nations’ science were correct, America’s sacrifice would be for nothing.
If Obama is serious about promoting “a more elevated debate in Washington,” as he said he was in his last State of the Union address, he must start to practice what he preaches.
TOM HARRIS
Executive director
International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC)
Ottawa, Ontario
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