Hi Dad,

When we talked today, you said a couple of things that I found deeply unsettling: climate change is cyclical and not influenced by the Industrial Age, and that air quality is better today then it was before cars existed.

Hmmm…

You know that people porting boats between lakes in Minnesota spread Eurasian Milfoil. Eurasian Milfoil spreads faster when farmland fertilizer run-off hits lakes and that Eurasion Milfoil disrupts the ecological balance of a lake and harms all the wildlife in and around it. You know this because you’ve told me all about it.

You also know that Las Vegas has changed the climate in southern Nevada; that the Cuyahoga river burned because of what people put into it; and that metals released into the river in Milltown, Mont. by mining and ore-processing in the Butte area are now threatening fish and polluting drinking water in the ground below. It was human action that disrupted these natural balances that existed for millions of years. The dots are all connected. Yet you will look me straight in the eye and say with complete conviction, "Nope. Climate change is cyclical. Man's got nothin' to do with it." And even more unbelievable, you say the air is better now than before there were cars.

Incredible.

I've heard of people that sucked on car tailpipes. They can attest to the fact that air quality is worse now than before cars. They're dead.

John Holdren, Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, is quoted at length in the book “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Thomas L. Friedman. According to Holdren, there are three stages of skepticism in relation to climate change issues:

They tell you you're wrong and that they can prove it. "If the climate IS changing in unusual ways (which it isn't), then humans aren't the cause."

They tell you that you may be right, but it doesn't matter. "Sure - people have an impact, but it's too small to notice."

They conceded that climate change is real and severely accelerated by mankind, but that it's too late to do anything.

You, dad, are at stage one, hovering around stage 2. I intend to drag you, kicking and screaming, through the stages until you acknowledge that climate change is a direct result of our activities on this planet.

Every scientist that is not on Chevron or Shell's payroll has said unequivocally that climate change and global warming are very real, are indescribably dangerous and are a direct result of people.

Also quoted in “Hot, Flat and Crowded” is Dr. Heidi Cullen, the climate expert at The Weather Channel. She says, "I can understand why a senator who is fronting for the oil industry would stick his head in the sand. But I absolutely do NOT understand why Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives would make climate-change denial a conservative Republican plank. I would have thought that conservatives, of all people, would be prudent, and not siding in the debate with those who say that if there is just a 10% chance of a major disruption as a result of climate change. We should make sure to CONSERVE the world we have. What could be more crazy-radical - more Trotskyite and more reckless than standing in the face of an overwhelming consensus among climate experts and saying "I am throwing my lot in with the minority. I am going to bet the farm, my future and my kid's future that the tiny minority is right - all other consequences be damned?"

I belabor the point not because you and mom aren't responsible, conscious people - quite the contrary. You guys do right in most things. I’m pressing the issue because we cannot afford to cling to the false believe that causes of climate change are 'debatable.' The only people who want to keep that debate running are the people that profit from the status quo. And frankly speaking - they can take the status quo and shove it. The world is going to hell and that's a status quo responsible people cannot tolerate.

One more thing - my soapbox contained vegetable-based, phosphate-free biodegradable soap and is made from post-consumer recycled material.

Scott