Letter: Climate change is a scientific reality - Chico Enterprise-Record
Letter: Climate change is a scientific reality - Chico Enterprise-Record
Congressman Doug LaMalfa (California 1st District) made a profoundly concerning and regrettable comment during a recent congressional hearing featuring Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. LaMalfa equated the issue of climate change to the changing of the seasons, stating that the current change is called “autumn.” LaMalfa’s dismissive and flippant attitude toward one of our time’s most pressing global challenges is beyond reckless, especially for a U.S. Representative.
Climate change is a complex and scientifically well-documented phenomenon causing significant and lasting impacts on our environment, economy, and public health. Snidely comparing it to the natural progression of seasons shows LaMalfa’s astounding lack of comprehension of the issue and a callous disregard for its actual and imminent threats.
Secretary Buttigieg was correct to call out and correct LaMalfa for such a misguided and trivializing remark. The California 1st District deserves leaders who take climate change seriously, acknowledge the scientific consensus behind it, and work to address its consequences. Climate change is not a matter of opinion or a simple seasonal transition — it is a reality backed by mountains of empirical evidence and endorsed by a vast majority of climate experts worldwide.
In California’s 1st District, where we confront growing difficulties posed by wildfires, droughts, and other climate-related problems every day, we deserve a representative who champions solutions and policies aimed at safeguarding our environment and securing the welfare of our communities. Not someone who laughs at the issue, ridicules dedicated scientists, and disparages those working to solve the problem.
— Brooke Daly, Magalia
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.