This is forwarded from a different listserv. Some may find it interesting.
Barry > Debate over global warming is shifting > Some skeptics resolute, others revisiting views > By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | February 15, 2007 > > WASHINGTON -- With Democrats controlling the environmental agenda in > Congress, a panel of international scientists saying there's a > greater-than-90 percent chance that humans contribute to global > warming, > and former vice president Al Gore calling climate change a moral issue, > many besieged global warming skeptics are starting to tone down their > rhetoric. > > Some, though, are sticking to aggressive tactics, even contending they > are gaining momentum. And they have influential allies: some > scientists, > conservative think-tank pundits, a minority of Republicans in Congress, > and a sympathetic White House that has rejected attempts to force > companies to curb carbon dioxide emissions -- even though the vast > majority of scientists say those emissions are heating up the earth. > > Still, both sides acknowledge that the global warming debate has > changed > significantly in recent weeks. The biggest factor is the Feb. 2 report > by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC -- a review > of > scientific literature by hundreds of scientists who determined that it > is more than 90 percent certain humans contribute to global warming. > > That seemingly irrefutable conclusion helped shift the position of > ExxonMobil, which had taken the strongest stance among oil companies > against global warming policy. > > Last week, Rex W. Tillerson , ExxonMobil's chief executive, > acknowledged > that greenhouse gases from car and industrial exhausts are factors in > global warming, a stark reversal in the company's long-held position. > For years, ExxonMobil has funded several Washington think tanks that > have questioned the science -- and whether national policies would be > effective. > > Scott Barrett , a global warming believer and director of the > International Policy Program at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced > International Studies , said ExxonMobil's about-face is significant. > "They accepted the responsibility to do something, and that could > change > the debate" from uncertainty about climate change to finding solutions > to a fast-approaching crisis, he said. > > Other oil giants, including BP and Shell, had made the shift much > earlier; both are aggressively promoting fossil-fuel alternatives such > as solar and wind power. > > "A lot of the focus is going to shift into how much effort you should > put into reducing emissions versus adapting to climate change," Barrett > said. Adapting to a warmer global climate, he said, could include > anything from building farther inland to guard against rises in sea > level to investing in a malaria vaccine, anticipating that > disease-carrying mosquitoes could spread northward from the tropics. > > The debate shift has been felt elsewhere as well. The American > Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank that had > offered $10,000 last year to scientists to challenge the IPCC report, > is > rethinking the project, said Kenneth Green , who is overseeing the > effort. > > "There is a backlash growing against skeptics, a kind of climate > inquisition," said Green. "What do people do if they have alternative > ideas and they don't have independent institutions to back them up? > They > will be attacked." > > Global warming skeptics say they believe the media and Congress aren't > interested in hearing their side of the debate. > > "The size of the megaphones for the other side is very large," said > Myron Ebell , director of energy and global warming policy at > Competitive Enterprise Institute, one of the leading doubters of the > issue. "On our side we are using bare voices without amplification." > > But those who don't believe humans contribute to global warming have > some scientists, and an influential lawmaker, on their side. > > Senator James M. Inhofe , the Oklahoma Republican who famously declared > global warming a "hoax," said this week that the skeptics were gaining > momentum. He said President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic and > scientists from France and Israel, among others, are now among the > doubters. > > Writing in the Sunday Times of London this week, Nigel Calder, former > editor of New Scientist magazine, suggested that the IPCC's main > conclusion -- that there is more than a 90 percent certainty humans are > contributing to global warming -- means there's a 10 percent chance > that > man is blameless, "a wide-open breach for any latter-day Galileo or > Einstein to storm through with a better idea. That is how science > really > works." > > Dr. Willie Soon , a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for > Astrophysics who believes that variations in the sun's energy might be > the chief reason for a warming planet, agrees. Speaking for himself and > not the center, Soon accused mainstream scientists of "attacking me. > But > as a scientist, you just ignore them." > > Meanwhile, Christopher C. Horner , published a book this week called > "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and > Environmentalism," a primer for doubters that yesterday was ranked 33 d > on Amazon.com's best-sellers' list. Horner, a fellow at Competitive > Enterprise Institute, has denounced Democrats in Congress, alleging > that > they are delaying action on global warming to preserve it as a > presidential campaign issue in 2008. > > But Representative Henry A. Waxman , a California Democrat, has said he > doubts any comprehensive global warming legislation will emerge until > 2009 for a different reason: Though Democrats control Congress, they > don't have the votes to override a likely veto by President Bush. > > Bill McKibben , the author of "The End of Nature," which in 1989 warned > about global warming, said skeptics "at best are taking pot shots > around > the edges" of the debate. Still, McKibben sees a great irony as he > listens to their arguments: "There is nothing I would rather see than > these guys be right." > > John Donnelly can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link > attachments: > > Shortcut to: > http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/15/ > debate_over_global > _warming_is_shifting/ > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
