George W. Bush and his Republican followers have long pursued a two-prong justification for doing nothing to deal with the growing crisis of global climate change. On the one hand, they claim there is no proof – that climate change is happening, or no proof that climate change is due to human causes, or no proof that climate change will do anybody any harm. On the other hand, the Republicans claim that no plan yet developed to deal with climate change is good enough, or “workable”.
A few days ago, the final nail in the coffin of Republican denial of global climate change was hammered in. One of the favorite arguing points of Republicans has been that global warming of the climate is taking place, but it might be just part of a larger natural cycle. Scientists from the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica have finished their analysis of gases trapped in an ice core going back 600,000 years. The scientists found that, during all that time, there was no time when the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere came anywhere close to what exists today – in spite of the fact that there were six periods of natural warming and cooling during the time recorded in the ice core. Nothing natural – not storms or volcanoes or the ends of ice ages, ever rivalled the changes wrought by human industry.
What about the Republicans’ second line of defense – that no plan currently proposed is good enough? Well, that’s true, although starting with a partial plan years ago would have been much preferable to the complete inaction that we have seen. We’ve got to start somewhere, but Republicans have been arguing that we shouldn’t start at all.
The time for such nonsense has come to an end. There is an opportunity for the United States to finally take responsibility and join with the rest of the world to finally take strong action against global climate change. This week, representatives from around the world, including the United States are meeting in Montreal at a United Nationsl conference on climate change. The American delegation could follow its old habit of putting roadblocks in the way of any solution that is offered, playing obstructionist games instead of pitching in to help. Or, 15 years late, the USA could finally work with other nations to forge a plan with enough power behind it to actually work – a plan that goes beyond the limited goals of the Kyoto Accord that Bush killed years ago.
I’m watching skeptically, but with my fingers crossed.
