The money quote from RFK Jr. pretty much sums up what we have come to expect from the environmentalists that get air time on the MSM.
Here is the quote:
"First of all, the, everything we need to do, the science on global warming is settled, 2500 scientists and the IPPC report, the top meteorologists and climate scientists from around the world have announced the global consensus that global warming exists, that we are causing it, and that its impacts are going to be catastrophic. You don't need that science, though. All you need to do is walk outside. I just came back from the Arctic. The Arctic is melting. It is catastrophic. The good news is that everything that we need to do to solve global warming are things we ought to be doing anyway for the sake of America's prosperity, for our national security, for our economic independence."
Let's look at this piece by piece.
"... the science on global warming is settled..."
This is clearly the statement of someone who has never actually practised science. Climatology is a very young science with new research and developments being done at an ever increasing rate. There is, in fact, considerable controversy and varying conclusions being made a wide range of scientists. Anyone even remotely conversant with the scientific method knows that scientific reports are published so that the thought process and conclusions of the author(s) can be evaluated by a wide range of scientists and so that others can begin the process of poking holes in the reasoning. Publishing also allows others to try to duplicate the experiments and thus confirm or refute the original research. It takes a great deal more than one report to begin the process of accurate scientific knowledge.
If everything that was to be known about the climate was known, then we could accurately predict the weather well into the future. At this point, we can't even predict if its going to rain next Tuesday with any significant accuracy.
".... 2500 scientists and the IPPC report, the top meteorologists and climate
scientists from around the world have announced the global consensus that global
warming exists, that we are causing it, and that its impacts are going to be
catastrophic."
Firstly, consensus does not prove anything in science. Functioning models that can accurately recreate measured data and accurately predict are the basis for proving things in science.
Secondly, an ever increasing number of the scientists listed in the IPPC report are publicly disavowing supporting the report's conclusions. So do you really trust a document that doesn't even allow the people to read it and make their own assertion that it is correct, rather than just declaring their agreement?
Thirdly, the IPPC report is a political document, not a scientific one. Its conclusions were drafted before the technical portion of the document. It was drafted by bureaucrats from the most political and self serving organization on the planet, the UN. Hardly a bastion of objective opinion or clear, rational scientific thought.
"You don't need that science, though."
Translated: Don't bother looking for facts, proof, or even attempt to understand what you are observing. I have an agenda to push.
Its July. Apparently, in Mr. Kennedy's vast scientific background, he was never exposed to the phenomenon of snow melting during the summer."All you need to do is walk outside. I just came back from the Arctic. The
Arctic is melting."
"It is catastrophic. "
The climate of the planet has been changing for millions of years. What makes you think this is catastrophic? Global warming, if true, could be a great boon to some. At worst, its a mid level civil enginering problem. The only reason to declare a catastrophe is to acquire additional government (and UN) powers and money.
"The good news is that everything that we need to do to solve global
warming are things we ought to be doing anyway for the sake of America's
prosperity, for our national security, for our economic independence."
Even rudimentary mathematics shows this statement to be ludicrous, if you accept the first portion of his premise. Again, it is simply a call for more government intervention in our daily lives, and a curtailment of individual liberty. Interestingly, its not a prescription Mr. Kennedy chooses to follow for himself.
In summary - MSM environmentalists (Al Gore and RFK Jr. being classic examples) have no interest in objective scientific truth. Their interest is political power and control over others.
