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Supreme
Court on Global Warming
by
Chuck Hall
 Global
warming is a hot topic these days (no pun intended). Scientists
around the world agree that the Earth is heating up. That fact is
not in question. The question is whether mankind is contributing to
this temperature increase. According to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities have had “a
discernible influence on the global climate and global warming is a
serious problem that must be addressed immediately.” In fact, the
vast majority of scientists agree that human activities have
contributed greatly to global warming. There are a few dissenting
scientists, but a survey of those who claim that human activities
don’t influence global warming are mostly scientists whose
specialties are outside of the field. Asking their opinion on global
warming is a bit like asking a doctor of literature to treat your
heart condition. At any rate, most of the dissenting scientists,
what few there are, have a political agenda rather than an
environmental one.
You
may have heard that the Supreme Court is hearing a case concerning
the EPA and global warming. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that
contributes to global warming. At the crux of this case is whether
or not carbon dioxide may be classified as a pollutant and whether
the EPA has the right to declare it so or not so. The case was
brought by twelve states against the Bush Administration for
apparent violations of the Clean Air Act. Bush’s EPA has decided
that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and that human activities,
such as burning fossil fuels, do not contribute significantly to
global warming.
"There's
something of a consensus on warming, but not a consensus on how much
is attributable to human activity," said Justice Antonin Scalia
at the hearing.
The
fact that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas is not in dispute. The
planet Venus has an atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide,
and although it is only a few million miles closer to the Sun than
our Earth, its surface temperature averages around 800 degrees. This
is due to the greenhouse effect caused by the carbon dioxide in its
atmosphere.
The
fact that the Earth is heating up is also not in dispute. The only
question, as Scalia said, is how much humans are contributing to the
problem. We know that fossil fuels cause carbon dioxide emissions.
In my opinion, sitting back and doing nothing about carbon emissions
while the planet continues to heat up is the moral equivalent of
saying, “Oh well, the boat is sinking anyway, so what harm would
it do if I drilled a few more holes in the side?”
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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