Published: April 23, 2008 05:49 pm            

Tuesday was a premium day for daft

LEBANON, Ind. — Say this for the climate change debate: It’s creating some weird synergy politically.

Tuesday, a group called Grassfire.org claimed more than 76,000 Americans have signed a petition “opposing Climate Alarmism and the $1.2 trillion Global Warming Tax.” (Their capitalization, not mine.)

In an e-mail, Steve Eliott, president of Grassfire.org, said he was “thrilled that Americans are ... not buying into the doomsday predictions or proposed solutions of the Climate Alarmists that are irresponsible and dangerous.”

Besides, it’s all Al Gore's fault, Eliott said; he said the Nobel Prize winner was pushing “a massive taxing scheme that will have little or no impact on the alleged problem of rising CO2 emissions. ... ”

But wait, there’s more.

Also Tuesday, Roy Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality said efforts to limit global warming are discriminatory.

The more controls on pollution, the higher the cost of energy, and the higher the cost, the more the impact on the poor, Innis said.

Innis did not say persons wanting to restrict climate change are racists, in so many words. But he did call members of the Southern Utah Wilderness Society “modern day Bull Connors and George Wallaces. ... who are trying to prevent poor Americans from achieving Martin Luther King’s dream of equal opportunity and true environmental justice.”

Connor and Wallace were, of course, infamous supporters of segregation. Wallace claimed to have been brought to the light when he was running for president, but some folks remained unconvinced.

If insinuation is an art, Innis is a master.

If CORE tosses Innis out the door, he could find a new job as a spinmeister for Grassfire.org.

Tuesday was a premium day of daft.

A reprise:

n Ray Innis is trying to associate global warming with racism, by comparing environmentalists to two of segregationism’s most notorious defenders.

n Grassfire.org calls climate change a hoax, and accuses “the media” of “promoting (a) dangerous agenda” that uses “anti-scientific, anti-democratic intimidation tactics designed to put people in a panic.”

Maybe Grassfire.org could give Innis lessons in spin.

Organizations and individuals who deny climate change is real are scientifically illiterate.

There is no “growing body of scientific evidence” disproving climate change. Any scientist qualified to speak on the issue agrees climate change is happening. They may disagree on the severity or the timing — but there is no valid scientific doubt that climate change is real, here and now, and will continue to develop.

The climate change avalanche has begun. The only question now is how far it will slide and how many species — including ours — will die before it stops.

Achieving scientific literacy is possible for virtually anyone with an open mind and a desire to broaden his knowledge base.

Two places to start: On the Web, at about.com. Learn the scientific method; mathematics and fundamental physical constants.

There is a link to the 10 “grand ideas of science,” formulated by James Trefil, author of “Why Science.” Persons who understand the “grand ideas,” Trefil argues, will have the basic knowledge to assess science issues. Some of the ideas:

n The universe is regular and predictable;

n The energy of a closed system is conserved;

n Heat will not flow spontaneously from a cold to a hot body and

n The laws of nature are the same in all frames of reference.

Grasp these concepts and the other concepts, and you grasp the basics of science — not of propaganda, deception or superstition.

Education, not hyperbole, is the only thing standing between the species and extinction.



— Rod Rose writes for The Lebanon (Ind.) Reporter. He may be reached at rod.rose@reporter.net.

        

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