Sustainable Energy Action

Recently I wrote a diary discussing global warming, indicating the overwhelming evidence that it is happening and suggesting that we can do something about it. Many of the comments I got were negative and, looking over the various sites I posted it, include a.) global warming is a scam; b.) we are not technically advanced enough to make any real changes; c.) our society won't do anything, so we have to act as individuals and forget about societal action; and, worst of all, d.) fine, you can do what you want about global warming as long as it doesn't inconvenience me.

I want to address these negative comments because, quite simply, they are all wrong and all of them interfere with our ability to mitigate global warming.

Who am I to discuss global warming? Well, my wife and I are scientists. Although I am a biologist, I keep up with the scientific literature in a variety of fields and I understand scientific thinking and the scientific process. My wife is actually an atmospheric scientist, studying climate dynamics, and works at GISS, the institute run by Jim Hansen, the man who came out on 60 minutes exposing the Bush administration's censorship of global warming science (which lead to a diary I wrote that was top of Daily Kos rec. list!). I hear from my wife aspects of the global warming debate that few outside of the field would hear. I hear what the experts are saying and how their discussions have shifted. It is also a subject I have been aware of and keeping up on for more than 25 years.