Is Global Warming a Crisis?

Recommend (6) Comments (1)

Unfortunately, global warming is an issue that is well suited to political demagoguery, which can be defined as pandering to misinformed voters and promising unrealistic solutions. Since opinion polls indicate a majority of the public believes warming is happening, politicians might think the safe strategy is to say “I believe global warming is a serious problem and I support measures to reduce global warming pollution by supporting renewable fuels and energy efficiency.” Politicians who set lofty goals for emission reductions or increased use of renewable fuels with compliance set five years, 10 years, or even 20 years in the future should be “outed” for promising more than they can deliver, using scare tactics to win elections and hiding from voters the real costs and consequences of their votes. Here’s what you should be saying when these politicians speak about global warming

1) “I’m not a scientist, but I do know there’s still a lot of debate going on in the scientific community about whether the recent warming spell is natural or man-made, and whether or not it will continue. How can Senator Smith be so sure he’s got the whole truth?”

2) “I’m old enough to remember when we were setting records for cold weather in the 1970s and scientists were predicting Global Cooling. I’m glad Senator Smith wasn’t around back then, or we’d be paying for government programs to make the world warmer, not cooler.”

3) “Senator Smith talks about reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 percent, 30 percent, or more, but he doesn’t tell us these cuts would cost the average American household $3,372 a year and destroy 2.4 million jobs. He’s pretending his ‘solution’ would be free and easy. It won’t be either.”

4) “Senator Smith talks about how much lower emissions will be in 2012, 2020, and even 2050, but he must know this Congress cannot commit future Congresses to carrying out its will. Two years, four years, and six years from now, Congresses will be voting on whether or not to reduce emissions and at what costs. Senator Smith can’t predict their decisions, and he can’t claim credit for what they might decide to do.”

Unfortunately politicians and scientists have used these climate scare tactics to drum up support for their own goals, hiding the very real consequences of their alarmism from voters.