Today’s Republican Party embraces the proposition that Ignorance is Strength with enthusiasm. Earlier this month a revealing USA Today poll showed that “60% of Republican and conservative-leaning independents view colleges as having a negative influence on America”.
Today House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith wrote an op-ed touting the benefits of “Carbon Enrichment".
By Rep. Lamar Smith
The American people should be made aware of both the negative and positive impacts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Without the whole story, how can we expect an objective evaluation of the issues involving climate change?
Smith’s top donors include Koch Industries.
The benefits of a changing climate are often ignored and under-researched. Our climate is too complex and the consequences of misguided policies too harsh to discount the positive effects of carbon enrichment.
A higher concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere would aid photosynthesis, which in turn contributes to increased plant growth. This correlates to a greater volume of food production and better quality food.
Also, as the Earth warms, we are seeing beneficial changes to the earth’s geography. For instance, Arctic sea ice is decreasing. This development will create new commercial shipping lanes that provide faster, more convenient, and less costly routes between ports in Asia, Europe, and eastern North America. This will increase international trade and strengthen the world economy.
The persistent myth that adding more CO2 to the atmosphere will help agriculture has been refuted by scientific studies.
A 16-year study found that we’re at a point where more CO2 won’t keep increasing plant production, but higher temperatures will decrease it
The “beneficial changes to the earth’s geography” include islands disappearing below the surface of rising seas, flooding coastal cities, increasing desertification, forests succumbing to spreading insect infestations and increasing wildfires, more devastating floods resulting from the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.