Climate Denier Senate Committee Chairs are Ignoring Effects of Global Warming on Their Own States. We illustrate their denial attitudes and excuses, and just scratch the surface on climate effects in their own states that will be worsened by increased global warming.
Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma, (a leading state in oil and natural gas production), is the new Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He is not only a denier in human caused climate change, but also causes the science the biggest fraud. He is a religious denier in claiming that man cannot change the climate. Oklahoma is in the middle of the “tornado belt”, and has received serious destruction recently, made more damaging with increased population. Tornadoes occur at weather fronts between hot dry air coming from the West over the Rockies, colliding with warm moist air coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Both the heat from the West and the amount of water vapor for the heating Gulf can increase from global warming. The increase in the West wind with altitude causes horizontal vortex tubes at the front. When these are pushed vertical by rising air, they are tornadoes. Oklahoma also has suffered from a costly drought since 2010, which will occur more with global warming. The drought also leads to wildfires.
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, is on the Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Chair of its Subcommittee on Science and Space, that oversees NASA and its science. Texas is also a leading oil and natural gas producer, refiner, and shipper. The earth observing satellites that analyze the water and carbon cycles essential to life are launched and funded by NASA. Sen. Cruz is from Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center of NASA. His subcommittee also oversees the National Science Foundation, home to much basic research. Sen. Cruz claims there has been no warming over the years since the 1998 one year jump in temperature from an El Nino. But many years since then have been among the warmest, and the oceans have continued warming and absorb most of the warmth. Texas has been suffering from drought, as Oklahoma has. Texas is also in the tornado belt. Austin in 2011 had the most 100 degree F days on record and the hottest summer on record, and tied for the hottest day (112 degrees F).
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, now Chairs the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, which oversees NOAA. NOAA is the weather predicting service which uses the same atmospheric, ocean and land physics that is the basis of climate models as well. Florida is one of the states which will most be affected by sea level rise. Miami is already flooding on super high tide days. The peak pass I encountered in driving across the Everglades was three feet above sea level. Three feet is a possible sea level rise by 2100. Where are all those alligators going to go? Florida is also subject to severe hurricanes. Hurricanes are driven in size and magnitudes by the potential energy of water vapor, which increases the hotter the Atlantic and Caribbean are. The wonderful coral reefs that bring tourists and cruise ship passengers to the region are endangered by increasing ocean temperatures and increasing ocean acidity from CO2 dissolving as carbonic acid. Florida has the Florida Keys, where 90% of the land is at 5 feet or less above sea level. Its flooding would cause a loss of $27 billion, with 56,000 residents displaced. Hurricane Wilma caused severe storm surge flooding to the Keys in 2005.
NOAA has a vast number of programs in Florida, which is mostly surrounded by the Gulf and the Ocean. It runs the National Weather Service and the National Marine Fisheries Services. It calculates the global warming data, showing 2014 to be the hottest year on record worldwide. It runs the geostationary weather satellites, and polar satellites to observe the oceans. Hopefully, Sen. Rubio’s exposure to all of their scientists and facilities will teach him about their science capabilities and knowledge, and alter his uninformed opinions on the climate and on sea level rise. Sen. Rubio also could not decide whether the earth was only four thousand years old, or 4.5 billion years. Hopefully, scientists will also answer this for him.
Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, heads the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He admitted that man has caused some climate change, but says the climate is changing all the time. The answer to that is that the climate has been changing rapidly, and will continue to do so, due to known cause. His committee oversees the EPA budget on toxic substances and automobile CAFE fuel economy standards. Despite admitting some man made warming, he is worried about the costs of acting to mitigate it. In South Dakota, climate change has led to cold Arctic storms being pushed South by warming highs in the Arctic, also called the Polar Vortex. This has led to earlier and more harsh winters. The Eastern part of South Dakota is also in tornado alley, which we have discussed above.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, Chairs the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Her committee oversees the Department of Energy, and many of the areas dealing with Alaska oil and mining, and its wildlife preserves. She thinks man’s contribution to climate change could be 5% to 50%, or 5% to 90%, lately. With Arctic warming increasing at a far greater rate than the rest of the world, she has to worry about Inuit communities being melted away. Melting permafrost limits the frozen roads needed for the winter Arctic drilling seasons. The retreat of summer sea ice endangers sea life. President Obama is proposing to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and endangered coastal areas, like the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Offshore drilling is also very risky and expensive, coupled with the threat of storms.
Alaska spans a vast area and a vast number of ecosystems. The warming of the Arctic has been 4 degrees F, while the earth has warmed about 1.4 degrees F. So the consequences of warming in Alaska have been far greater than elsewhere. Alaska also has unique wildlife both in the sea and land, and unique ecosystems. But the oil industry has vast profits and exploitation in Alaska. Taxes on oil drilling cover 90% of state revenue, and there are not only no income taxes, but there is a payoff to the states citizens from oil taxes. A previous governor stated their policy as “drill, baby, drill.”
From the Encyclopedia of Earth, we learn that South Central Alaska has the largest spruce bark beetle destruction due to longer summers and not freezing in winter, due to warming. Also, other trees have been destroyed from other insects due to warming. Alaska also has had record size fire seasons. Alaska glacier retreat has been 50% of the world’s. There also is the retreating and thinning ice sheets. Polar bears that hunt from ice sheets have been declining, as have walruses and ice seals. In the Bering Sea the water is warming and endangering fish and sea mammals.
