Let's Remember Who's Talking

An entire little industry has developed around the global warming issue. It's designed to plant seeds of doubt, uncertainty in the minds of the public and, especially, political leaders. It has one purpose: to forestall remedial action on global warming that will adversely impact the industry's sponsors. It's not surprising to see names like Exxon and the American Enteprise Insitute emerging, every now and then, out of the shadows.

We all have to come to our own decision on this. A lot of difficult decisions lie ahead. This is, after all, a democracy. We'll have to decide what is necessary to arrest and, at some distant time in the future, reverse global warming. We'll have to decide what changes and sacrifices we're going to require from our society at all levels. We'll have to define what role our government is going to play in this and the course it will take. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

The deniers (I'm going to start calling them the "Global Warmers") are down but they're not out. The debate on the fact of global warming is over but the battle to influence the decisions to come, the practical questions, is just beginning. These are the decisions that will have direct, economic impacts and they're the decisions that will hit hardest at those industries most closely associated with GHG emissons.

We've already seen the efforts made to undermine the IPCC and its work. The Global Warmers drag out a couple of dissenters who wave around their own contrary studies (almost invariably non peer-reviewed) to spread confusion and doubt. Make no mistake, you're almost as valuable to these people if you're confused as if you're a genuine doubter.

Yet, when you hear their claims and begin to wonder, remember who's talking. Check'em out and find out if they're associated, directly or indirectly, with the old tobacco lobby. See if there's a money trail that leads back to the Global Warmers. See if you can learn anything about them at www.sourcewatch.org , a project of the Center for Media & Democracy.

Once you've done that, think about the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here are a few things to keep in mind. The IPCC has been at this since it was formed in 1988, that's almost two decades. Membership in the group has been open to all members of the United Nations and of the World Meteorological Programme.

The deniers, the Global Warmers, have had two decades to make their case to the IPCC. Their voice has been heard. If they were denied a voice or if their science was arbitrarily rejected, do you think they wouldn't be screaming about it? Do you think Big Oil wouldn't be storming congress if it had any real evidence that it had been mistreated by the IPCC?

Then think about the IPCC report that's just been released. You might not remember the three previous reports. They show, as much as anything else, the cautious, deliberative approach the IPCC has taken to get where it is today. This from The New York Times:

"This is the fourth in a series of studies that began in 1990. The first left open the possibility that the warming that began with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and increased in the 1950s was 'largely due to natural variability.' The second and third reports detected a bigger human role, and this one lays the whole problem at humanity’s doorstep.

"A later paper will address specific remedies. But many climate experts believe the world must embark on a swift and sustained shift in the way energy is produced and used — away from fuels like oil and coal, and toward cleaner alternatives.

"This is not a report compiled by a bunch of activists or alarmists. It is a consensus document, the inherently conservative product of three years of study and debate among mainstream scientists from 150 countries with often competing agendas. And in its modesty, it is alarming enough."

Keep all of this in mind when the Global Warmers come knocking and they will. Take the time to learn more about the IPCC. There's a pamphlet on its history that's available for download. Visit their website at www.ipcc.ch . Determine for yourself how much confidence you should be placing in the IPCC findings.