When Bill O’Reilly and Fox News were loudly condemning the “War On Christmas,” I naively assumed they had zeroed in on canceled Nativity scenes at public parks in Santa Monica. Or maybe they were mad at Hallmark for selling cards that say “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Feliz Navidad.”
Now I realize O’Reilly was raising the alarm because boat owners on Balboa were threatening to boycott Newport Beach’s annual Christmas Boat Parade. This after the City Council raised dock “fees” (never taxes) for the first time in two decades.
Even worse, the City wants to use some of the proceeds to strengthen and raise seawalls. That smacks of a response to global warming, and everybody knows global warming is a hoax. Rumors of a meltdown at the North Pole and pictures of Santa’s elves bobbing around in lifeboats are just some leftwing conspiracy.
My first reaction was to ignore all the folderol, but when our third Balboa Island Holiday Party – oops, I mean Christmas Party – got canceled, I realized America faced its most serious revolt since the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791.
My granddaughter Abbey was in town for her first Christmas with us, so we went to Balboa anyway. We figured if there weren’t any boats lit up, she could feed the ducks, which is still pretty exciting if you’re a one year old. Fortunately there were plenty of lights to see, so her Grandpa can relax until the War On Easter heats up in March.
I’ve already started to prepare Abbey for that conflict. I’ve assured her that the Vernal Equinox Bunny will be hopping by our house even if the City Council does pass a rumored fee increase at Big Corona (to help fund the removal of fire pits from local beaches?).
Of course, some Fox viewers themselves want to do away with other holidays. Halloween tops the list. It is, after all, a pagan ritual. Well, sorry Fox, but if my granddaughter wants to dress up like a princess on Halloween, I don’t care if the Voldemorts on the City Council do pass a pumpkin fee to pay for it.
Dear Sir, You are quite wrong. Global warming (or, Climate Change, as it is now, more accurately referred to) is most certainly not a hoax, as the Fox “news organization” would have you believe.
Here is a list of organizations that accept anthropogenic global warming as real and scientifically well-supported:
NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS): http://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/gwdebate/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/index.htm
National Academy of Sciences (NAS): http://books.nap.edu/collections/global_warming/index.html
State of the Canadian Cryosphere (SOCC) – http://www.socc.ca/permafrost/permafrost_future_e.cfm
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
The Royal Society of the UK (RS) – http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=3135
American Geophysical Union (AGU): http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy/climate_change_position.html
American Meteorological Society (AMS): http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/climatechangeresearch_2003.html
American Institute of Physics (AIP): http://www.aip.org/gov/policy12.html
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/cc_1.html
American Meteorological Society (AMS): http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/jointacademies.html
Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS): http://www.cmos.ca/climatechangepole.html
Every major scientific institution dealing with climate, ocean, and/or atmosphere agrees that the climate is warming rapidly and the primary cause is human CO2 emissions. In addition to that list, see also this joint statement (PDF) that specifically and unequivocally endorses the work and conclusions of the IPCC Third Assessment report. The statement was issued by:
Academia Brasiliera de Ciencias (Brazil)
Royal Society of Canada
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academie des Sciences (France)
Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany)
Indian National Science Academy
Accademia dei Lincei (Italy)
Science Council of Japan
Russian Academy of Sciences
Royal Society (United Kingdom)
National Academy of Sciences (United States of America)
You can also read this statement (a PDF) [http://www.royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=13619], which includes all the above signatories plus the following:
Australian Academy of Sciences
Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts
Caribbean Academy of Sciences
Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Royal Irish Academy
Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
But if scientists are too liberal and politicians too unreliable, perhaps you find the opinion of key industry representatives more convincing:
BP, the largest oil company in the UK and one of the largest in the world, has this opinion:
“There is an increasing consensus that climate change is linked to the consumption of carbon based fuels and that action is required now to avoid further increases in carbon emissions as the global demand for energy increases.”
Shell Oil (yes, as in oil, the fossil fuel) says:
“Shell shares the widespread concern that the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities is leading to changes in the global climate.”
Eighteen CEOs of Canada’s largest corporations had this to say in an open letter to the Prime Minister of Canada:
“Our organizations accept that a strong response is required to the strengthening evidence in the scientific assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We accept the IPCC consensus that climate change raises the risk of severe consequences for human health and security and the environment. We note that Canada is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”
Have the environazis seized the reigns of industrial power, in addition to infiltrating the U.N., the science academies of every developed nation, and the top research institutes of North America? That just doesn’t seem very likely.
Sincerely,
K. Crawford