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Re: Political: climate change



David, that is a great project! Please keep us, or at least me, informed of
your class findings and, if possible, a biblio of pertinent papers your class
finds. I am staunchly on the "We Don't Have a Dern Thing To Do With It" side
of the fence...

Daryl L Taylor, Fizzix Guy
Williamstown HS & Engineering Academy Rowan University, NJ
PAEMST '96
International Internet Educator of the Year '03
6093309571


Quoting "David T. Marx" <dtmarx@ILSTU.EDU>:

I appreciate that you labeled this stuff as political rather than
scientific.

A class I am teaching has spent the past six weeks looking in the
scientific literature for evidence either supporting or refuting the
global warming hypothesis. The class is to answer two questions: (1)
Is the global warming hypothesis supported by physical evidence? and
(2) If it is occurring, are humans primarily to blame for it? I am
not accepting any modeling papers on the topic, news reports,
political analyses, or speeches. I have asked them to read papers by
people that actually measured or analyzed relevant physical data. So
far, I would say we have found minimal evidence one way or the other.
But the project is not over yet. Each student will write an analysis
on three papers, two of which must take one side and one takes the
opposing side. We will then bring all of the information together
into a classroom debate/discussion. Hopefully, we'll arrive at some
convincing conclusion.


Here's an opportunity for those who believe in human induced climate
change to take action. The site is the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Many of you have previously voiced your support for the Climate
Stewardship Act (CSA). This landmark legislation--introduced by
Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Lieberman (D-CT)--is a responsible first
step that will require reductions in the heat-trapping gases that
contribute to global warming. After much legislative wrangling, a
Senate vote on CSA has been scheduled for October 30. Now is the
time to redouble our efforts and ensure that, as the world's #1
emitter of global warming gases, the United States legitimately
addresses this critical issue.

TAKE ACTION:
To automatically send the letter below to your Senators, hit "Reply"
and then "Send", in your email program.

To customize your letter, learn more about the issue, or if this
message was forwarded to you, visit,
http://www.ucsaction.ctsg.com/ctt.asp?u=39143&l=6749

**********
Letter:

Dear Senator,

I understand that the Climate Stewardship Act (S.139) is scheduled
for a vote at the end of this month. I am writing to urge you to
plan responsibly for our children and grandchildren's future, and
vote in favor of this bill. As you know, S. 139 will limit carbon
dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from major industrial sources.
These gases are contributing to global warming, which will bring
with it serious changes to our way of life and damage America's
economy.

Senators McCain and Lieberman have created a practical, market-based
approach that would harness American technological know-how to find
the most cost effective ways to cut our emissions of heat-trapping
gases. Off-the-shelf reductions already available include producing
more electricity from clean renewable sources, limiting carbon
dioxide emissions from dirty coal-fired power plants, increasing the
energy efficiency of our homes and factories, and making cars go
further on a gallon of gas. By encouraging investment in these and
other methods, the act would also ensure that American technology
remains competitive as other countries move to reduce their own
emissions.

The United States--with its global technological advantage--should
be a leader in the fight to curb global warming. The Climate
Stewardship Act provides us with an important opportunity to take a
reasonable first step toward addressing this problem, which left
unchecked will have devastating environmental and economic
consequences in coming years. The status quo has obviously failed.
In fact, U.S. emissions are nearly 12 percent higher now than they
were in 1990.

Please demonstrate your commitment to responsible stewardship of
America's environment by voting for the Climate Stewardship Act. I
look forward to hearing your position on this issue.

Sincerely,

[Your name and address will be inserted here]


************
If you have general questions, comments or concerns about this
action, send an email to action@ucsusa.org -- replying to this
action will send the letter.



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