StopGlobalWarming.org

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

StopGlobalWarming.org is organizing a virtual march on Washington to demand

the Bush Administration take action to actively address global warming. It's

very easy to join, put in your two cents and forward the info to your

friends. As most of us on this board already know, respiratory and autoimmune

diseases are rapidly increasing planet wide. If you all would join this

virtual

march, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sharon

snk1955@...

Senators Attest to Alaska Climate Change

By DAN JOLING, AP

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anyone doubting the effects of human activity on

global climate change should talk to the people it affects in Alaska and the

Yukon, U.S. Sen. McCain said Wednesday.

Fresh from a trip to Barrow, America's northernmost city, McCain said

anecdotes from Alaskans and residents of the Yukon Territory confirm scientific

evidence of global warming.

" We are convinced that the overwhelming scientific evidence indicated that

climate change is taking place and human activities play a very large role, "

McCain said.

McCain, accompanied by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., ,

R-Maine, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., spoke to villagers in Canada whose

spruce trees are being attacked by the northward spread of spruce beetles. On

Alaska's northern coast, they met Native Alaskans dealing with melting

permafrost

and coastal erosion.

" I don't think there is any doubt left for anyone who actually looks at the

science, " Clinton said. " There are still some holdouts, but they are fighting

a losing battle. The science is overwhelming, but what is deeply concerning

is that climate change is accelerating. "

Graham, who declared himself " on the fence " about climate change

legislation, said an academic debate about global warming is different in the

North.

" If you can go to the Native people and listen to their stories and walk

away with any doubt that something's going on, I just think you're not

listening, " he said.

McCain and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., are sponsoring legislation that

would limit greenhouse gas emissions from utilities and industry. The Climate

Stewardship and Innovation Act would cap U.S. emission levels at levels

recorded

in 2000.

Opponents of the legislation, including Sen. Ted s, R-Alaska, chairman

of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, attribute

warming to cyclical geophysical forces.

McCain said the trip has been valuable for the accumulation of evidence that

can be used to push the bill. Ultimately, he said, Americans will demand

laws to decrease emissions, just as they demanded campaign financing reform.

" It's coming up from the bottom, " he said. " It's the special interests vs.

the people's interests and I still have enough confidence in our system of

government that the people's interest will ultimately prevail. "

said the senators were approached by Alaska guides who thanked them

for taking time to look at how climate change affects Alaska. They echoed

what indigenous people in Canada told the senators.

" I don't think anyone who has talked to these individuals as well as the

scientists would have any doubt that this is a real and growing problem, " she

said.

McCain said his bill continues to face opposition from industry, but that

may change from businesses that operate overseas.

" They have to do business in Europe, and thereby comply with the

requirements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, " he said. " You will

see more

and more international corporations going in that direction because they

have to. "

Graham couched the argument for climate change, as well as another major

Alaska issue, petroleum drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as a

national security measure. Continued dependence on foreign fossil fuels makes

America vulnerable, he said.

" The sooner we get started with alternative energy sources and recognize

that fossil fuels makes us less secure as a nation, and more dangerous as a

planet, the better off we'll be, " Graham said.

Opponents who ignore evidence of humans contributing to climate change,

Clinton said, are participating in a trend of turning Washington, D.C. into

what

she calls an " evidence-free zone. "

" You just keep saying something no matter how untrue and unfactual it might

be, over and over and over again, and try to drive the politics to meet your

ideological or commercial agenda, " she said. " That is a grave disservice to

our country. "

The senators planned to travel to Seward later Wednesday.

08/17/05 20:27 EDT