Turning up the heat

Texas has long been the Lone Star State — what it lacks in magnanimity it makes up for with that independent streak, as its textbook massacre demonstrates.

After all, where else do public schools play down the separation of church and state and the civil rights movement all while vindicating McCarthyism?

And not too long ago, when affronted by the “intrusion” and “interference” by the federal government into the affairs of his state, Gov. Rick Perry attempted to revive a glimmering of secession and state sovereignty.

It should be noted, however, that most Texans are not as nutty as the Gov’ner — 75 percent of Texan voters would elect to stay in the Union should the matter come to a vote, according to a Rasmussen Poll.

In its most recent display of might, Texas has refused to follow federal greenhouse gas emissions that start in January. With this refusal Perry snubs his nose at the pesky meddling federal government once again, no matter the cost to Texans and businesses.

While all other states have changed their legislation or created greenhouse gas permit programs for businesses, Texas has not, and it is therefore “unnecessarily subjecting their energy industry and manufacturing base to a construction ban in the state,” said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Act Agencies.
“The sad news is that this is totally avoidable,” he said.

If a company starts construction without a permit, it will be subject to possible lawsuits and fines of up to $25,000 per day, Becker said.

Perry, however, is not entirely alone in his relentless vagaries. GOP leadership plans side with him on this one. If they win control of the House, they plan to “launch a blistering attack on the Obama administration’s environmental policies, as well as on scientists who link air pollution to climate change,” reports Neela Banerjee of the Los Angeles Times.

There has long been widespread, scientific consensus that human actions have contributed to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has agreed on this matter, but the U.S. has refused to cooperate with the international community regarding the Kyoto Protocol.

Obama has a notably different reaction than his predecessor, turning up the pressure and acting in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency.

But the intended actions by these Republican leaders, who intend to use congressional committees to investigate and attempt to disparage climate scientists, might hamper the advancements that have been made.

Michael E. Mann, professor of meteorology at Penn State University, is among the scientists slated for slander.

“I don’t think we can cower under the politically motivated attacked by the forces of anti-science, which includes prominent politicians who are in the pay of the fossil fuel industry,” he said.

So the scientists, we must hope, will stay strong, and Obama will be able to use veto power, Senate Democrats have the option of filibustering — but the GOP’s intentions to subvert the truth might undermine years of research.

Of course, those under the thumb of lobbyists and big business are not the only ones who have created the myth of there being debate regarding climate change — journalists are to blame as well.

Journalistic norms contribute to the misconception with attempts at “balanced reporting.”

We attempt to “present the views of legitimate spokespersons of the conflicting sides in any significant dispute and provide both sides with roughly equal attention,” Maxwell and Jules Boykoff said in a study about mass media coverage of climate change.
By presenting both sides equally — no matter how on the fringe the opposition is — the facts are skewed. All the better for Texas’ stubborn stand against federal government.

Meanwhile, Texas is getting hotter, as its state climatologist John Nielson-Gammon will tell you. Temperatures are predicted to rise by 0.5 to 1 degree per decade, likely affecting crops and water shortages.

But the fabricated debate about human influence in climate change is “certainly not a hoax,” Nielson-Gammon said. “The challenge comes in balancing the impacts of climate change with other problems facing society.”


E-mail: celgrund@indiana.edu