Isn't it shocking how throughout the coldest of winter days, when temperatures across the US drop to single digits, global warming is a hoax but on these summer days of 100+ in DC and NYC, the skeptics are silent? While most who assert the science behind global climate change understand that daily temperatures are not a good measurement of overall temperature change, skeptics pick and choose what to believe and when to believe it. One such skeptic is the infamous Pat Buchanan.
I make the mistake of tuning into Morning Joe on MSNBC because it seems more substantive than the celebrity gossip of local news and even CNN. This morning as the panel, including Chris Hayes, debated the importance of the climate bill, Buchanan had to make his opinion known. I should have switched the channel, plugged my ears, or slammed my head against the wall because I knew I was going to be angry the moment he spoke. I was not to be disappointed. After Chris Hayes asked him what we should do when global ocean levels rise by 2 meters, Buchanan simply stated "I don't believe it." As if this wasn't enough for my jaw to drop, he then stated, "I have been going to the beach for 50 years and haven't seen the ocean raise an inch!" The remote went flying.
Looking past the absolute ludicrous nature of climate change being disproven by Pat Buchanan's ruler, I had to ask myself what a man like this is doing on a show with people of political intelligence. Regardless of whether I agree with Joe Scarborough or Mika Brzezinski at least (the majority of the time) they make political sense and base their beliefs on rational ideas. This man simply does not, but he is not alone especially when speaking on climate change. While hard science proves change is occurring, erroneous holes are punched in the science by climate skeptics who have much to profit from a government that ignores the ramifications of climate change not only in the US but abroad. This leads to the quesiton of what should the next step be for environmental advocates both inside and outside of government to stop or at least slow the effects of global climate change?