Denial of Global Warming by the GOP

"Perspective"

03/25/2007

Paul Munnis


Some people were upset at the acid poured on Al Gore when he appeared in front of Congress recently on the subject of global warming. As several Republicans questioned and editorialized in a skeptical manner they poured a lot of ire on Al implying that he is a grandstanding Democrat perpetrating a scientific hoax onto America.

I don’t think that is the case but I welcome the discussion of global warming. The subject ought to stand up to a public inquiry by supporter and skeptic alike.

In fact this is an excellent teaching moment and those seeking change in national legislation as it impacts global warming should feel good about using the opportunity to make their case.

Certainly Al Gore used his appearance for just that purpose. Anyone who heard him on C-SPAN now knows that converting from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lights is a fast and cheap solution to cutting the cost of electricity to both consumer and government. It also offsets a lot of barrels of oil from being imported. But there is a down-side -- these bulbs contain mercury and they must be properly disposed of lest we add to pollution in a big way.

So I welcome the discussion and the debate and I hope we have a lot of that in the coming months. We need to calibrate ourselves on what is fact and fiction and we need to examine proposed policy to assure that we are making the right investments in the right amounts and for the right reasons.

For my part I’m glad to hear America talking about this for it also means we are talking about creating alternative energy, cutting our imports on foreign oil, reversing our balance of trade deficit and creating jobs at home for our people. Somehow that discussion rings truer with me than how to kill more Iraqi’s or how to nuke Iranians.

The old saying goes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and nowhere is that more truthful than in the energy arena.

By all means let’s talk, discuss, debate, and decide.