Global Warming: Do You Believe?

Global Warming.... do you believe?

Are you one of the "liberal left" who believe that the sky is falling, or perhaps one of the far right, one of the "global warming deniers" or greenhouse doubters, as they prefer being called?

According to a Newsweek article, "just last year, polls found that 64 percent of Americans thought there was "a lot" of scientific disagreement on

climate change; only one third thought planetary warming was "mainly caused by things people do." In contrast, majorities in Europe and Japan recognize a broad consensus among climate experts that greenhouse gases—mostly from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas to power the world's economies—are altering climate."

How many polar bears must drown before we wise up, jump off the political bandwagons, and START TAKING CARE OF OUR PLANET?

A new Newsweek Poll finds that the influence of the denial machine is running at full throttle—and continuing to shape both government policy and public opinion. Since the late 1980s, this well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change. Through advertisements, op-eds, lobbying and media attention, greenhouse doubters argued first that the world is not warming; measurements indicating otherwise are flawed, they said. Then they claimed that any warming is natural, not caused by human activities. Now they contend that the looming warming will be minuscule and harmless. "They patterned what they did after the tobacco industry," says former senator Tim Wirth, who spearheaded environmental issues as an under secretary of State in the Clinton administration. "Both figured, sow enough doubt, call the science uncertain and in dispute. That's had a huge impact on both the public and Congress."

And who is funding this campaign? Can you say ExxonMobile? (And why have conservative talk-show hosts jumped on this denial bandwagon? Is caring for the earth a socialist thing? Will destroying our plant ensure a fast forward trip to the End of Times?)

This undermining of science is nothing new. Polls taken in the late 1400s, for example, would have found that 99% of the population believed the earth to be flat. And polls taken today at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church in Alaska would likely find near 100% to believe the earth to be only 8000 years old.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, global warming is one of the most serious challenges facing us today. To protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations, we must reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases by using the technology, know-how, and practical solutions already at our disposal.