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Global climate change a reality
By Ben Hughes

Last week, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a non-partisan,
nonprofit organization, released a paper entitled, "Observed Impacts
of Global Climate Change in the U.S." The paper, co-authored by UT
professor Camille Parmesan, consolidates the efforts of more than 40
scientists to paint a coherent picture of global warming and its
effects in the United States.

Many in the political world would like to believe no scientific
consensus can be reached on global warming. The frightening reality is
that changes which are already occurring could deeply impact humanity
during our lifetime.

According to the report, global sea levels have risen 8 to 10 inches
in the last century. Coastal ecosystems are being flooded, and arctic
ecosystems are melting. Carbon dioxide levels have increased by more
than 35 percent in the past century.

Dr. Parmesan's report also notes the wide variety of flora and fauna
impacted by global climate change. Many mammal, fish, insect and bird
species have lost rangeland and struggled to adapt their behavior to
overcome rising temperatures. The paper also attributes the
destruction of many North American ecosystems to global warming.

Here in Central Texas, undesirable herbaceous plants such as mesquite,
prickly pear cactus and juniper have replaced our characteristic
grasslands. These changes act as a miner's canary - with the projected
acceleration of global warming over the next century, nature simply
cannot keep up.

So what are we doing to combat these effects? In the 2000 presidential
campaign, George W. Bush promised to cut carbon dioxide emissions. He
broke this promise when he rejected the Kyoto Protocol, an
international plan to reduce carbon emissions, in favor of his own
domestic plan, the so-called Clear Skies Initiative.

Why did President Bush back out of the Kyoto Protocol? "[He] strongly
opposes any treaty or policy that would cause the loss of a single
American job, let alone the nearly 5 million jobs Kyoto would have
cost," states James Connaughton, the chairman of the White House
Council on Environmental Quality.

One would hope - and expect - a man with such a title would hold
environmental protection as a high priority, so it is strange
Connaughton attacks it with blatant exaggeration and unverifiable
statistics.

A quick background check reveals that Connaughton has actually worked
for years as a negotiator and lobbyist to fight the Environmental
Protection Agency and reduce federal emissions regulations on the
behalf of corporations such as General Electric.

Connaughton's appointment merely scratches the surface of President
Bush's efforts to selectively curtail science based on his political
and moral ideals. Besides many other dubious appointments, President
Bush lets corporations dictate his environmental policy.

His most ironically named policy, the Healthy Forests Initiative,
simply reduces regulations on logging companies - the same companies
that donated $1 million in 2000 and $3 million in 2004 to the Bush
campaign.

Following the election, most news outlets told us that the presidency
was decided on moral values. What greater moral ideal is there than
the responsible care of the world in which we live? The general apathy
toward environmental protection is difficult to explain.

Many politicians, most notably our president, have openly suggested
that global warming is a myth. They argue that we should not act
against global warming until we have irrefutable evidence that it
endangers us.

The scientific community has spoken; global warming is a problem, and
we are the cause. However, the environment will forever remain in the
political shadows until we hold our politicians accountable - as
President Bush has proven, it's on our shoulders.
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/11/15/Opinion/Global.Climate.Change.A.Reality-804646.shtml