Contact:
Rick Clewett, Cumberland Chapter Political Committee Co-Chair, (859) 272-4247
Ray Barry, Cumberland Chapter Chair, (859) 223-0180 (H), (859) 232-5483 (O)
Betsy Bennett, Cumberland Chapter Conservation Chair, (502) 897-0040 (H), (502) 846-4905 (O)

Sierra Club Statement on Legislative Committee’s Look at Global Warming

The Cumberland Chapter of Sierra Club is here to go on record expressing its disappointment that the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources is pretending that the question of whether human activity is disrupting and destabilizing the climate through ever increasing emissions of greenhouse gases is still legitimately open to scientific debate. Furthermore, we are dismayed that those setting the Committee’s agenda have invited only two speakers, both to argue against the validity of global warming, and have refused to allow speakers with any other perspective to make a formal presentation.

This defies common sense. If the Committee genuinely thinks that these issues are still open to debate, then the appropriate action would be to invite an expert on each side of the issue. Instead, whoever has made this determination has invited two speakers with similar points of view.

Why are the invited speakers so committed to debunking the concept of global warming? Both are affiliated with ultra-conservative foundations and websites. Neither has an academic scientific research credential. Christopher Monckton is affiliated with “Frontiers of Freedom” and its apparent offshoot center for science and public policy. James Taylor is managing editor of “Environment & Climate News” and senior fellow on environmental policy at the Heartland Institute. It is interesting that the websites of both organizations ridicule Al Gore on their homepages.

The Sierra Club urges our legislators in the House and the Senate to move the Commonwealth forward toward a new energy future that promotes renewable energy and energy conservation. We need to recognize problems and implement realistic solutions. The real debate here has nothing to do with the science of global warming, but the economics and politics of coal and our need to diversify Kentucky’s energy supply.

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