Linda Williams
English111-13C-C1
01 November 2013
Global Warming Who’s To Blame?
Is global warming a myth or a political ploy? Is global warming just the natural heating and cooling of our planet or is it caused by man-made pollution? For most people the first thing that comes to mind is the reports and images spot-lighted in the media. We are told that the arctic ice sheet is shrinking; we see illustrations of polar bears floating on broken ice, cities covered in smog, and warnings of the rise in sea levels. We are led to believe that if we do not get our pollution under control the planet will continue to heat up causing the arctic ice sheet to thaw; resulting in displaced arctic species, horrific storms, and increased ocean levels leaving our nations coast under water.
I have collected several findings and opinions from some of the leading investigative environmental journalists on global warming and have included them in this article. Each one of them is on either side of the fence when it comes to the global warming debate. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which side of the fence you are on.
It has long been debated between environmental scientists as to wither global warming is man-made or just a natural cycle our planet goes through. One thing they can all agree upon is that global warming is real and is caused by greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gas is a gas in our atmosphere that gathers and omits radiation; the greenhouse gases affect the temperature of our planet and depending on the concentration of gases our planet is either warmed or cooled. William Tucker wrote an article titled “Deceitful Tongues: Is Climate Change Denial a Crime?” (Tucker 831-894). In Williams article he states that “global warming was brought to the attention of the general public in the late 1980s” (831). Global warming has been discussed on a national scale for more than thirty years yet we still can’t stop its progression. Is it a case of not enough legislative, is it because our planet is going through a natural warming cycle? Tucker suggest that the “United States government has failed to take effective measures to address climate change domestically or to assert international leadership on achieving meaningful carbon emission reduction” (831).
Some believe that the reason for the government failing to enact proper climate legislative stems from big business and their lobbying efforts. It has been well documented that “Since the early 1990s, there has been a sustained and coordinated public relations effort by certain energy companies and related industries” (Tucker 833). It has been suggested that the reason for these coordinated efforts are to try and “deceive the public about the true state of climate science” (Tucker 833).
It is understandable why many of us do not understand what is going on in the climate debate. Through my investigations I have found that when it comes to global warming and politics, lobbyist might possibly be the little brother on the global warming issue. It appears that political parties and their associated interest might be to blame. As one journalist wrote “Much of the blame for this unfortunate outcome belongs to people I have come to refer to as climate cranks—the corporate lobbyists and right-wing ideologues who for twenty years have done all in their power to keep this country, especially the government, from seriously addressing the problem”. (Hertsgaard 17).
Is it the Republicans and their corporate swine? Is it the Democrats and their environmental fanatics? Is global warming do to man-made pollution? It is hard to follow such a debate when all you hear is arguments over which parties fault it is for poor environmental legislative. Global warming has become more of a political mess then anything, everywhere you look you see excerpts that read “Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is so scientifically illiterate that he apparently thinks the environmental complaint about carbon dioxide is