Missed opportunity

“Not Evil, Just Wrong,” a new film arguing that evidence for man-made global warming is inconclusive and that efforts to curb carbon emissions will necessarily lead to economic catastrophe, premiered at IU last Sunday.

The film was shown by the IU College Republicans in Woodburn Hall, and even though it didn’t attract a big crowd – the group’s weekly meetings do much better – the screening was significant. I thought it represented a missed opportunity.

College Republicans are in a unique position on any campus. Republicans are having a hard time connecting with young and college-educated voters. Even though a lot of stu- dents on this campus voted for President Barack Obama, it’s doubtful they are all hardcore Democrats.

But after the screening of a film that essentially denies that humans cause global warming, many of those students might not feel like they have a choice.

The film jumps around, reminding audiences of the short-lived global cooling hysteria and of how efforts to fight the pesticide DDT have hurt the fight against malaria in less-developed countries.

In both examples, the film plays loose with the details; but when the filmmakers interview arrogant environmental activists, the smugness and ignorance that those activists show is real. The views echoed by many green extremists in the film that the human population is too large or unsustainable are both silly and discredited.

But saying some environmentalists are obnoxious doesn’t disprove the scientific consensus about global warming. Neither does attacking former Vice President Al Gore, an obsession of the film up to the very last frame.

Science-wise, “Not Evil, Just Wrong” doesn’t offer much more than a retired Canadian businessman who questioned some of the methodology in reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The film’s stance on climate change contrasts with the current Republican Party. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ran for president with his own cap-and-trade program to lower carbon emissions. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was to partner with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to find a compromise to pass cap-and-trade legislation. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., and Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced legislation imposing a carbon tax.

If both parties put climate change legislation on the table, we can better debate the most efficient way to curb our emissions. Inglis has introduced a reasonable alternative to the Democratic cap- and-trade bill but hasn’t gotten anywhere without support from his party.

After the film, senior Justin Hill, chairman of the IU College Republicans, told me he didn’t believe humans caused global warming.

Hill interned with Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District, an outspoken opponent of any cap-and-trade legislation, in his congressional office in Washington. They represent one direction the Republican Party could take on this issue.

That direction makes some people very excited, but it won’t make Monroe County red anytime soon.