There has been much hype about a series of stolen emails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) in the UK. Those who dismiss the evidence of climate change have argued that these emails prove there is a global conspiracy to mislead the public about global warming. We all wish global warming were not real. Unfortunately, that's not what the facts show.
Don't get me wrong: I am disappointed in the way that some of the authors of these emails acted. But I am disgusted at how the climate change deniers are trying to overplay their hand. It appears their main goal is to confuse the public in hopes of protecting our high-polluting status quo.
But the stakes are extremely high: the cost of not addressing global warming today could be massive for our children and grandchildren. And we have the technologies we need to solve this problem while growing our economy. So let's take a look at the hand the deniers are trying to use to confuse people and delay action.
Let's start with Dr. John Holdren, a science advisor to President Obama who was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate. In recent testimony to the U.S. Senate, he makes it extremely clear that the CRU emails change nothing about the conclusions of climate science, and the urgent need for swift global action to address the threat of global warming.
Now, the conspiracy theorists will say Dr. Holdren must be in on it, and that he's just doing what is politically appropriate for his boss. But that doesn't line up with how top U.S. scientists view the situation, according to this open letter to the US Congress:
"The body of evidence that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming is overwhelming. The content of the stolen emails has no impact whatsoever on our overall understanding that human activity is driving dangerous levels of global warming."
And then there's the letter to Congress from 18 leading US scientific organizations, including the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society, which states:
"Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science. ... If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced."
In short, those who continue to deny the scientific consensus about global warming will remain on the fringe. It sure would be nice if a few emails could solve our global climate problem, but that is simply not the case. Only political will from today's leaders will result in concerted action.
And to those who continue to keep their heads in the sand, ignoring the global scientific consensus about this serious problem, I would say this:
Imagine all those scientists end up being wrong, but we still take the action needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So we end up growing our economy in Canada by 23% over the next 10 years, we reduce local air pollution, we have a more energy-efficient economy, we preserve tens of thousands of hectares of forest, and we set ourselves on course to power our economy with endless renewable energy.
That's one option. But what if you're wrong, and we see the global warming that is being predicted by today's conservative models? Our kids who will be alive in 2050 and even 2100 - such as my two-year-old son and my infant daughter, who is due to arrive any day now - will be burdened with a challenge that we caused and could have prevented.
My choice is to be guided by the science today and take action now. It is the only responsible action left.
Marlo Raynolds was the executive director of the Pembina Institute until January 2011.
