Harry Reid's really been on a roll the past week or so. First, he's got Republicans panties all in a twist about Willard "Mitt" Romney's taxes, and specifically why Romney won't release them to show how much - if anything - he's paid. Now, as if that's not good enough, Reid has made one of the strongest statements I've ever heard from a top U.S. government official - in this case the Senate Majority Leader - about global warming. Here's the excerpt that particularly kicks a** (bolding added by me for emphasis). Go Senator Reid!
Scientists say this is genesis - the beginning. The more extreme climate change gets, the more extreme the weather will get. In the words of one respected climate scientist: "This is what global warming looks like."
Dozens of new reports from scientists around the globe link extreme weather to climate change. Not every flood or drought can be attributed to human-induced transformation of our planet's weather patterns. But scientists report that these extreme events are dozens of times more likely because of those changes.
The seriousness of this problem is not lost on your average American. A large majority of people finally believe climate change is real, and that it is the cause of extreme weather. Yet despite having overwhelming evidence and public opinion on our side, deniers still exist, fueled and funded by dirty energy profits.
These people aren't just on the other side of this debate. They're on the other side of reality.
It's time for us all - whether we're leaders in Washington, members of the media, scientists, academics, environmentalists or utility industry executives - to stop acting like those who ignore the crisis or deny it exists entirely have a valid point of view. They don't.
In short, it's time for everybody to start treating deniers of global climate chaos the same we treat people who deny that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer, or people who claim the moon landings were a hoax, whatever. They're completely invalid, not even worthy of mentioning, except perhaps as an example of a minority of humans acting like complete fools, lunatics, etc.
The purpose of Blue Virginia is to cover Virginia politics from a progressive and Democratic perspective. This is a group blog and a community blog. We invite everyone to comment here, but please be aware that profanity, personal attacks, bigotry, insults, rudeness, frequent unsupported or off-point statements, and "trolling" (NOTE: that includes outright lies, whether about climate science, or what other people said, or whatever) are not permitted and, if continued, will lead to banning. For more on trolling, see the Daily Kos FAQs. Also note that diaries may be deleted if they do not contain at least 2 solid paragraphs of original text; if not, please use the comments section of a relevant diary. For more on writing diaries, click here. Thanks, and enjoy!
