A debate with no end in sight
The debate over climate change is currently taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009.
As advocates and skeptics from around the globe come together to talk about global warming and to come up with an agreement to replace the Kyoto Treaty, the global deal regulating greenhouse gases that expires in 2012, our state is being represented by a true non-believer — Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe.
Inhofe has called global warming “the greatest hoax ever played on the American people,” and opposes any kind of agreement.
He refers to himself as the “one-man truth squad,” determined to squash any talk of global warming having been caused by man.
The decisions made at the conference and the debates that will erupt from those decisions will affect the way world leaders handle the issue of global warming, including our own state leaders.
Yet, it’s likely Inhofe is at the conference, choosing to ignore all of the scientific studies that have been conducted and the data that has been gathered from that and instead, vehemently opposing all of the facts.
Hopefully, his lack of expert knowledge in the area will be noted and his off-the-cuff remarks ignored.
And, even more importantly, perhaps he will come back a changed politician, with a different mindset.
Adjustments need to be made in how we use energy and what we use for energy.
Solutions are available that will not destroy the way we live, commute and travel, and it’s time those solutions were implemented.
Changes will not occurr overnight; to set a course for how to deal with global warming and modifying the way we live will be a daunting process but one that needs to start now.
Inhofe and others who oppose making a new agreement are unlikely to be swayed by the conference, but the decisions will still affect the way global warming is handled.
But, here’s hoping he accepts those changes, whether he agrees with them or not.
—Justin Combs
Editor
