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On Nov 18, 2007 12:02 PM, Michele Laverty <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
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>
> I need to do a speech on Climate Change and whether or not the US should
> enact policy.  Can anyone suggest credible reference sources for both pro
> and con arguments?  Thanks
>
>          Michele Laverty
>  Director Ag Science Center
>  [log in to unmask]
>  P.O. Box 4937
>  Modesto, CA 95352-4893
>  209-521-2902 office
>  209-604-4916 cell
>  Check us out on the Web at WWW.AGISAMAZING.com
>
>
> I think it is helpful to separate science from policy in this case.

On the science: there is no credible dissent.  The IPCC reports (
http://www.ipcc.ch/) can be considered as consensus documents of the
scientific community.  There are differences in what scientists think about
how bad things will get or how fast, and those are dealt with in the IPCC
reports, but there is no credible dissent that global climate change caused
by human activity has been happening for some time, is increasing rapidly,
and needs to be addressed.

On policy:  If you have n people, you will find at least n+1 opinions on
what should be done, ranging from no action at all, to those who favor deep
forced cuts in carbon emissions or even a return to a sort of romanticized
hunter-gatherer lifestyle.  The trouble with groups promoting the do nothing
approach is that they tend to also be promoting the view that the science is
bad or that global warming is a hoax.  It's hard to evaluate their policy
ideas because their policy is not responding to reality.

Dave Smith

-- 
David L. Smith
Da Vinci Science Center
Allentown, PA
http://www.davinci-center.org

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