This explains a lot about Texas

And it ain’t pretty 6

Read this and weep. When we have the Governor, the Lt. Governor, the Speaker of the House, and a senior member of the Texas legislature denying the truth of global warming, we are in bad trouble.

I wrote and sent in this letter in response to the article:

I was greatly disturbed by your article, "Leaders not sold on global warming." There is a tendency for politicians these days to simply reject science that presents them with uncomfortable choices. Climate change is a perfect example. Policies to deal with it are political anathema to most Republicans, so they simply reject its reality. Unfortunately, the true state of scientific knowledge takes no account of political discomfort. I've been studying the climate for over ten years and I can assure the Texas Legislature that human activities are the dominant cause of the warming of the last 30 years, and that the globe will continue warming until we take action to stop it. Making informed and prudent decisions on environmental issues depends on accepting the science, even if you don't like it.
UPDATE 1/29: I just got a call from the newspaper. They are going to print my letter, probably tomorrow.

Andrew Dessler is an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University; his research focuses on the physics of climate change, climate feedbacks in particular.

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  1. Biodiversivist's avatar

    Biodiversivist Posted 4:59 am
    28 Jan 2007

    I'll bet my right armthat they also think evolution is a lot of hooey, so, good luck.

    In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
  2. Sam Wells Posted 5:34 am
    28 Jan 2007

    Less than 40 PercentThe Texas politicians you mention do not reflect what real Texans say, so be careful about who you are insulting here.  Governor Perry won his job seat with less than 40 percent of the vote for Governor.  We can't help it is he's a complete idiot about Global Warming.  We can't help it that the Democrats and independents split the ticket, such as runners like Kinky Friedman.  If one unified, single candidate ran against "Governor Good Hair" he or she would have won by a 60/40 landslide victory.
    In spite of what you're saying, the best thing that ever happened to Texas was to kick out George Bush to Washington DC so he couldn't screw up Texas any worse than it already is.  
    Meanwhile a huge court case is proceeding against TXU and its "clean coal" bent.  I don't see many people on this board making any suggestions about how to help fix that problem, other than the Syn-Gas argument is fundementally flawed and it could definitely lose on appeal as it rests.  We're talking millions of dollars in court costs and lawyers fees, much of it pro-bono, but so far no good ideas about how to stop the madness about clean coal in a court of law.  
    Thank about that ...

    Sam

    Onward through the fog
  3. cieldumort Posted 6:20 am
    28 Jan 2007

    re: This explains a lot about TexasI have to agree that comments like these, coming from the top government officials of a given state, are the stuff of nightmares.  Really, they are actually bordering on criminal, imho:
    ---"Absolutely," Gov. Rick Perry replied when asked recently by the Star-Telegram whether there is scientific doubt that human activity causes global warming. "I am not going to put the state of Texas in a competitive economic disadvantage on some science that may or may not be correct."
    ---State Rep. Phil King said: "I think it's just bad science. I think global warming is bad science."
    ---In a recent opinion piece, Perry said there remains great debate among scientists about the validity of man-made global warming.
    --- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Wednesday that there's an "absence of scientific consensus on the causes of climate change"
    I'm in Texas also. It is truly disheartening to see these smoke and mirrors played on the masses. The analogies made with Big Tobacco are very similar, but these are also an injustice (as realistically, the impacts from tobacco use are far less than the wide-ranging impacts of global warming)
  4. cleanair Posted 10:35 pm
    28 Jan 2007

    TexasGov. Perry was accurate in his statement:
    ---"Absolutely," Gov. Rick Perry replied when asked recently by the Star-Telegram whether there is scientific doubt that human activity causes global warming. "I am not going to put the state of Texas in a competitive economic disadvantage on some science that may or may not be correct."
    There are scientists who doubt mankind is a significant contributor to climate change,  whether you agree with these scientists or not.
    And Gov. Perry is not going to trash the economy of Texas regardless.  (Texas is supposed to take an economic hit while China pollutes without limit?)
    Remember that politicians in the U.S. are interested in getting elected, and otherwise have little interest in any of the issues.
    Until Texans discern a problem with climate, that is unlikely, no action is going to be taken by the gov't or business, except flooding the media with hot air.

     
  5. vmcnear Posted 6:00 am
    29 Jan 2007

    Texas isn't the only problemNot only is the Texas government denying global warming, at a recent meeting of the State Farm property and casualty actuaries, a manager laughed at the idea of global warming.  That could turn out to be disasterous for the company, and this is especially concerning to me, State Farm is our livelihood!
  6. gamoonbat Posted 2:27 am
    01 Feb 2007

    LetterIt is good to know that scientists are writing letters like yours. You pared it down and kept away from personal and political issues. Hopefully it will be read.

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