As if designed to darken my day, another constituent response form letter from Senator Sununu arrived in my mailbox this afternoon, almost identical to the one rambler american received. Sadly, this line remained unchanged:
While average global temperatures have increased by one degree over the last century, it is difficult to determine how much of this increase is due to human influence.
How great is it, then, that New Hampshire isn't waiting around anymore for Johnny to realize what thousands of scientists have already concluded: that we've got to do something yesterday about climate change. Yesterday UNH hosted a panel discussion on the topic, sponsored by the New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group. At it Carol Shea-Porter stepped up to the plate (has she been high profile since the last recess or what?):
"What we need is a federal commitment. Not just to study it, (because) we have the evidence. We're at the point where we need to take action," she said.
Republicans and Democrats are coming together to tackle global warming, Shea-Porter said.
Well, sort of, Congresswoman. I can think of one prominent New Hampshire Republican who isn't doing boo on the issue, and is even to the right of his taskmaster John McCain, if you can believe it. Says Tom Kelly, UNH's Office of Sustainability director:When asked how activists should respond to global warming skeptics, Kelly said the number of people who don't believe global warming is real is decreasing.
"We have crossed a threshold because people are ignoring that skepticism," Kelly said.Kelly is right about that in one concrete (or should I say "granite") way in this state.
The New Hampshire Carbon Coalition has pushed towns to adopt warrant articles showing support for efforts to control climate change and reduce carbon emissions. About 180 towns and cities [75% of the state] will vote on the measure, most at town meeting next month....The resolution has two parts. First, it says the community supports a national program requiring greenhouse gas reductions while still protecting the economy. Second, it calls for the creation of a major national research initiative to foster the development of sustainable energy technology.
Charlie Arlinghaus thinks it a "publicity stunt." I think that in the absence of leadership at the federal level, the people of this state have a right to express their views on matters bigger than the school budget on Town Meetin' Day, even if it bothers free market radical think tank spokespeople, and Senators who would rather stick their head in the sand than act.
Friday Night Update:Turns out Johnny's not actually all alone on this one. He's got a friend in the most despised man in politics today:
JONATHAN KARL: But what's your sense, where is the science on this? Is global warming a fact? And is it human activity that is causing global warming?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Those are the two key questions. I think there's an emerging consensus that we do have global warming. You can look at the data on that, and I think clearly we're in a period of warming. Where there does not appear to be a consensus, where it begins to break down, is the extent to which that's part of a normal cycle versus the extent to which it's caused by man, greenhouse gases, et cetera.
Exactly right. No consensus at all. Sununu's with him, so we can ignore this:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - made up of thousands of scientists from around the world - reported earlier this month they are more certain than ever that humans are heating earth's atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels.
