Read

User menu

Search form

Science Organizations Again Urge Congress to Take Climate Change Seriously

Science Organizations Again Urge Congress to Take Climate Change Seriously
Tue, 7/5/2016 - by Lisa Song
This article originally appeared on InsideClimate News

Thirty-one major American scientific organizations sent a letter to Congress last week emphasizing the overwhelming consensus on climate change science and the urgent need for climate action. The letter served as a scientific counterpoint to recent actions by Congress designed to question that consensus.

Reminding members of Congress that "rigorous scientific research concludes that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver" of global warming, they cited nearly universal support for the scientific consensus as expressed by the U.S. National Academies, the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"To reduce the risk of the most severe impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must be substantially reduced," said the letter, which was endorsed by institutions such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a nonprofit consortium that includes more than 100 North American universities.

"In addition, adaptation is necessary to address unavoidable consequences for human health and safety, food security, water availability, and national security, among others," the letter continued.

Under Republican leadership, Congress has persistently worked to block President Obama's climate agenda. A report released this spring found that a third of current Congressional representatives and Senators publicly doubt the scientific consensus on global warming.

Republican members of the House Science Committee, led by Lamar Smith (R.-Texas), subpoenaed federal scientists last year after researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a study that debunked the idea of a recent "global warming hiatus." More recently, the committee demanded internal communications from the attorneys general investigating ExxonMobil for potential climate-related fraud.

Tuesday's letter to Congress echoes a previous letter written in 2009, which was signed by 18 scientific societies. The updated version includes additional signatories including the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles and the National Association of Marine Laboratories.

The letter concluded with an offer to help legislators understand the science: "We, in the scientific community, are prepared to work with you on the scientific issues important to your deliberations as you seek to address the challenges of our changing climate."

Originally published by InsideClimate News

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

President-elect Donald Trump isn’t just appointing incompetent buffoons to his Cabinet, but deeply immoral individuals who are completely lacking in family values.

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

If the Democrats’ theme of 2017 was Resistance, the theme for Democrats in 2025 needs to instead be Opposition — and these two GOP senators may be the models to emulate.

President-elect Donald Trump isn’t just appointing incompetent buffoons to his Cabinet, but deeply immoral individuals who are completely lacking in family values.

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

Posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

Posted 2 weeks 1 day ago

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

Posted 1 month 3 days ago

If the Democrats’ theme of 2017 was Resistance, the theme for Democrats in 2025 needs to instead be Opposition — and these two GOP senators may be the models to emulate.

Posted 3 weeks 1 day ago

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

President-elect Donald Trump isn’t just appointing incompetent buffoons to his Cabinet, but deeply immoral individuals who are completely lacking in family values.

If the Democrats’ theme of 2017 was Resistance, the theme for Democrats in 2025 needs to instead be Opposition — and these two GOP senators may be the models to emulate.

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.