Donni Anderson

“The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising, and the temperature of the Earth’s surface is increasing.”

“We know that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities … largely burning fossil fuels … bring about long-lasting atmospheric changes likely to affect climate. And our world does appear to be warming.”

Which anti-business hippies do you think uttered these phrases? These two quotes are from Lord John Browne and Sir Philip Watts respectively: the CEOs of BP and Shell, the second and third largest oil companies. Even the Climate Change Science Program, started by Oil-President Bush to justify pulling out of Kyoto, is summarized by the New York Times as finding that “[the] lower atmosphere is indeed growing warmer and there is clear evidence of human influences on climate.” There does exist the odd scientist who finds a different conclusion, but he/she is a kin to the proverbial tenth dentist who does not believe that mouthwash fights gingivitis.

The right likes to discount the threat of global warming and say that there has been climate change throughout the Earth’s six-thousand year history. It is true that the Earth has seen several “ice ages”. It is also true that in the 1970s “global cooling”, while not being attributed to human activity, was the generally accepted climate threat; however, the recent scientific studies address the global trends of warming and cooling called the Milankovitch Cycles. The greenhouse effect has overridden the Earth’s natural climate cycle.

There is, of course, the possibility of error, but as Sir Watts says “…we can’t wait to answer all questions beyond reasonable doubt. There will always be uncertainty which we need to cope with.”

I for one will accept the science-but you can choose to rinse your mouth with Coca-Cola.

#1.883409:1154436987.jpg:anderson, donni.jpg:Donni Anderson, From the Left: