Would you bet on it?
The US Chamber of Commerce is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold a hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change, complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge.
The business lobby group is concerned about the oncoming tranche of new green laws and emissions regulations.
It says if the EPA declines its request, as expected, it will take it to the federal court.
From its blog:
…we are pushing the EPA to reveal the data they used to justify their endangerment proposal. We need to drop the articles of faith and use the entirety of scientific study on the effects of climate change not a sub-set, chosen by the EPA not for its validity but rather on its ability to forward their policy goal -- the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
US Chamber of Commerce (blog)
Reasonable doubt
I like the distinction drawn between ‘articles of faith’ and ‘scientific study’. If we, as normal people, were asked: do you believe climate change is real? I suspect many might say yes.
But if we were asked: do you know it’s real? Most mere mortals couldn’t answer yes.
And therein lies the rub; we are asked, nay told, to accept bitesized, dumbed-down "evidence" no one really understands.
Apparently there are some 30,000-odd scientists who question man-made climate change.
According to our legal system, if there is reasonable doubt, there is an acquittal.
I'm quite sure that in a fair court of law, some 30,000-odd scientists could easily raise reasonable doubt.
If the US Chamber of Commerce succeeds, the implications will seriously undermine worldwide energy reform.
Quite frankly, I've grown to care less about climate change than I do about the looming energy crisis, which relies less on religious fervour, and more on the self-evidential logic of finite supplies of fossil fuels.
Fortunately, fixing one, fixes the other - for the same price. The US Chamber of Commerce might like to reconsider where the best interests of their members truly lie.
Tags: climate-change
