The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

Many presidential candidates are calling for an ‘Apollo’ like project to address the issue of global warming.  Ironically, a recent interview aired on National Public Radio shows that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin doesn’t agree.  Griffin said “to assume that [global warming] is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth’s climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever had and that we need to take steps to make sure that doesn’t change…I’m not sure that it is a problem we must wrestle.”  James Hansen, NASA’s top climate scientist, responded to Griffin’s comments: “It’s an incredibly arrogant and ignorant statement…I thought he had been misquoted.  It’s unbelievable.” 

While Griffin’s comments on global warming have created quite the global warming buzz, Fred Thompson’s move at a presidential bid is creating a small political frenzy–is it official yet?  As a potential candidate, we wanted to see where he stands on global warming.  We found this radio clip from March 22.  It isn’t a position, but it does give us a better understanding of where he’s coming from.

Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever.  Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto…This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle. Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets and moons in our SOLAR system have in common…(Go here to read the entire transcript.)

For the record, the sun is not getting hotter.  If you care to wade through the data, it is here.  And there are other reasons for warming on Mars and you can read about them here.

Today The Chicago Tribune ran this article about Thompson making an official run.  It said if Thompson decides to run it will be “a move that will throw a wild card into the competition for the Republican Party’s conservative core.”  The article compares Thompson’s conservative campaign with others in the race: ”Sen. John McCain of Arizona is viewed with suspicion because he strayed from conservative orthodoxy on campaign finance reform, tax cuts and global warming.”  If addressing the issue of global warming is straying from conservative orthodoxy, then it seems an overwhelming majority of NH Republican voters have strayed as well.

Also, before Obama returns to the state for the debates on Sunday, we have to point to this blog entry that explains Obama’s position on coal-to-liquid fuel.  It writes: “he is undermining his own claim to be above politics, to be the kind of leader who looks beyond narrow, parochial interests to do what’s right for all Americans.”  It’s an interesting read, and if you happen to see Obama in NH this weekend, you might want to ask him about it.