Hugh Bollinger / Sunday, April 17, 2011

Politicians fibbing on global warming

By Reilly Capps There are a lot of things that can be debated honestly. The designated hitter. Abortion. Whether the Kardashians ought to be famous. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="104" caption="Khloe Kardashian. Totally famous. "]

[/caption] But climate change is not one of them. Thankfully, an honest voice spoke up today. In a surprising editorial for the Washington Post, the editorial page editor there, Fred Hiatt, who often leans conservative, calls out Republicans for essentially lying about climate change. They're shifting their opinions based on new polls that show that belief in man-made climate change is declining. (These polls ought to be terrifying and shameful for environmentalists or anyone who believes that the right side of the argument usually wins. Even with mountains of evidence on the side of global warming -- Thermometers aren't complicated instruments! Melting glaciers are hard to explain away! -- people aren't swayed.) GOPers such as Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty, who previously stated that climate change is real and even looked to combat it, are now reversing their statements. Writes Hiatt:

The climate change denialism is a newer part of the catechism. Just a few years ago, leading Republicans — John McCain, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty among them — not only accepted global warming as real but supported some kind of market-based mechanism to raise the cost of burning fossil fuels.

It's disgraceful. It's infuriating. Don't these people care about history? Don't they worry their careers will be short if people realize that they're fudging their beliefs, following polls based on complete willful ignorance?

Hiatt: [I]f you asked 1,000 scientists, 998 of them would say that climate change is real and that human activity — the burning of oil, gas and coal — is a significant contributor.

If only more Republicans would admit this. Anyone who says otherwise is just saying it out of ignorance -- or else they're trying to get elected.

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Tags: reilly capps Riled Up climate change global warming lying politicians sarah palin Washington Post

Politicians fibbing on global warming

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