WOW !!! - 'Republican Meteorologist Stands Up to Fight The War On Science - FDL

[WillyT]

Republican Meteorologist Stands Up to Fight the War on Science
By: Peterr Saturday - FDL
March 31, 2012 9:00 am


Paul Douglas

<snip>

Paul Douglas, a nationally-respected meteorologist,put out a stunning blog post http://www.shawnotto.com/neorenaissance/blog20120329.html this week at neorenaissance, in which called on his GOP friends to give up the anti-science bluster, and face facts:

I’m going to tell you something that my Republican friends are loath to admit out loud: climate change is real. I am a moderate Republican, fiscally conservative; a fan of small government, accountability, self-empowerment, and sound science. I am not a climate scientist. I’m a meteorologist, and the weather maps I’m staring at are making me uncomfortable. No, you’re not imagining it: we’ve clicked into a new and almost foreign weather pattern. To complicate matters, I’m in a small, frustrated and endangered minority: a Republican deeply concerned about the environmental sacrifices some are asking us to make to keep our economy powered-up, long-term. It’s ironic. The root of the word conservative is “conserve.” A staunch Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, set aside vast swaths of America for our National Parks System, the envy of the world. Another Republican, Richard Nixon, launched the EPA. Now some in my party believe the EPA and all those silly “global warming alarmists” are going to get in the way of drilling and mining our way to prosperity. Well, we have good reason to be alarmed.

The whole thing is worth reading, and even more worth sending to your Republican friends.

<And...>

And he goes on. He talks about his Christian roots, and in essence calls out those who either don’t read their Bibles or use them to cloak their impulses to rape the planet. “Were we really put here to plunder the Earth, no questions asked? Isn’t that the definition of greed?”

And he goes on. He talks about economics and entrepreneurs, and notes that climate change is an opportunity for innovators to really make money. Don’t wave Solyndra around, he says, but face the facts of climate change. “We won’t drill our way out of this challenge; we’ll innovate our way into a new, lower-carbon energy paradigm. Something we’re pretty good at.”

And he goes on...

<snip>

Link: http://firedoglake.com/2012/03/31/republican-meteorologist-stands-up-to-fight-the-war-on-science/

Douglas's Blog Post, above and here: http://www.shawnotto.com/neorenaissance/blog20120329.html

[fascisthunter]

1. the denying was never a sustainable option... soon even the right wing will have no other choice

but to admit man is causing it. The consequences of that reality means we have to do something about how we are all contributing to excessive CO2 levels. Money is not worth tragedy.

[MinneapolisMatt]

2. I grew up watching him on the teevees here in Minnesota.

He's always struck me as a very good guy. He left Minneapolis for a while, but he's back.

He's also made a TON of money developing new radar systems and tech. He's a smart egg.

[raouldukelives]

3. K&R

Don't understand how he can still justify supporting the main supporters of climate change after his awakening but sometimes these things take time. One epiphany often leads to another.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WillyT.

[obxhead]

5. I have to question this guys intelligence.

Everything he supports and believes in should steer him to the Democratic party, yet he holds onto the Republican party.

Repeating the same task over and over to achieve the same negative result consistently is the very definition of insanity.

[Ikonoklast]

6. Aren't we all for 'small government'?

One that is efficient, delivers service for ALL its citizens, intrudes less on their lives, and takes care of the least among us, not just the wealthy?

A smaller military, a smaller domestic surveillance footprint, a smaller intrusion into women's personal reproductive choices, smaller tax giveaways to millionaires...

Republicans only want to shrink the parts of goverment they dislike; the rest will get immensely bigger.



I get pissed off when they say 'small government' but really don't mean it one bit.

[CanonRay]

7. Sorry Buddy, you're no longer welcome in today's Republican Party

I bet he's already getting a ration of shit. Science, pah!

[sadbear]

8. Republicans cannot claim Teddy Rooseveldt.

TR was a liberal, arguably even more liberal than today's Democratic Party.

[Proles]

9. Well then, he should just become a Democrat.

I do respect him for what he's saying, but he may as well scream at a brick wall. You don't have to be a meteorologist to see that the weather is acting way crazier than it's supposed to be right now. If they don't buy climate change now, then they never will. Anyways, it's probably too late to make any major, influential changes (not saying we shouldn't try though).

At least we can say, "we told you so."

[WillyT]

10. Kick !!!

:kick: