Last Thursday, the Vice Presidential candidates had their only debate of the 2008 election season.
Vice Presidential graphic courtesy of San Diego Union-Tribune
As a meteorologist, I was thrilled when the moderator Gwen Ifill, managing editor of Washington Week on PBS asked a question about climate change in the first fifteen minutes of the debate. Unfortunately, this was her question:
IFILL: Let's talk about climate change. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, and debated about the causes of climate change?
Oh my! In ninety seconds? Impossible! Scientists spend months/years discussing and debating this question. Of course, that didn't stop our VP candidates from exercising the right to recall things that they were coached to say, so I thought I would chime in with my minute and a half as well. Here goes!
KEVIN: Gwen, the answer simply is that our climate has always been changing, and will always be changing. This is a dynamic planet, and both natural and man-made processes affect weather, and therefore climate. It is virtually impossible to separate the effects of one from the other. They both matter, and we have to study both.
Humans are changing the atmosphere like never before. At the same time, we don't have a complete understanding of important natural processes on the Sun and Earth. It is critical that the President work closely with the global climate science community and trust the validity of peer-review. There are many people with opinions on climate change, and the great work of the actual climate scientists is being lost in the noise being created by those with no scientific expertise where climate is concerned. We have to try to depoliticize the process. We should create a mechanism to allow bonafide climate scientists (like those in the IPCC) to present peer reviewed climate research regularly and directly to the President.
In addition, our elected officials should take a university-level class on weather and climate science to better understand the definitions, data, implications for policy and lawmaking, and the uncertainties involved. After all, weather and climate are likely the only things we Americans have in common with the various governments, races, religions and cultures on this planet. We are not going to observe global weather, understand global climate, or solve this complex issue without seeking meaningful collaborations with every country, whether we currently consider them friends or enemies. Like President Kennedy said 45 years ago "For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same ayah (air). We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."
We need to invest as much in understanding our own Earth as we invest in understanding places like the Moon, and Mars. I realize that extraplanetary exploration is cool. I was an elementary school student during the Apollo missions. There is not a single shred of notebook paper in my mom's scrapbook of my school days that doesn't have a rocket or lunar lander drawn on it. But, let's be practical. If changes are occurring to our house, should we be spending all of our limited resources driving around the block in another neighborhood? Let's completely understand our house first.
For comparison, and completeness, here are the unedited answers provided by the actual VP candidates! (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)
PALIN: Yes. Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. And we know that it's real. I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet. But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don't want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? We have got to clean up this planet. We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that. As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. We've got to reduce emissions. John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts. We've got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for. So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.
BIDEN: Well, I think it is man-made. I think it's clearly man-made. And, look, this probably explains the biggest fundamental difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and Governor Palin and Joe Biden. If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution. We know what the cause is. The cause is man-made. That's the cause. That's why the polar icecap is melting. Now, let's look at the facts. We have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We consume 25 percent of the oil in the world. John McCain has voted 20 times in the last decade-and-a-half against funding alternative energy sources, clean energy sources, wind, solar, biofuels. The way in which we can stop the greenhouse gases from emitting. We believe -- Barack Obama believes by investing in clean coal and safe nuclear, we can not only create jobs in wind and solar here in the United States, we can export it. China is building one to three new coal-fired plants burning dirty coal per week. It's polluting not only the atmosphere but the West Coast of the United States. We should export the technology by investing in clean coal technology. We should be creating jobs. John McCain has voted 20 times against funding alternative energy sources and thinks, I guess, the only answer is drill, drill, drill. Drill we must, but it will take 10 years for one drop of oil to come out of any of the wells that are going to be drilled. In the meantime, we're all going to be in real trouble.
KEVIN's 30-SECOND REBUTTAL: I guess you could say that I agree with one thing that each candidate said. Palin said "there are real changes going on in our climate." I agree. Our climate has been changing for billions of years, and hopefully will continue to change for billions more. Biden said "we're all going to be in real trouble." I agree. Especially if either of these two are put in charge of anything related to climate policy!
Want your shot at a 90-second answer to Gwen's question? Put it here! Here's your chance to feel vice presidential! And Mr. Brokaw, if you are reading this blog, please ask the following question on Tuesday night. "Senators Obama and McCain, what exactly is climate change, and what causes climate to change?"
I would like to convince myself that our next President has at least basic knowledge of a critical issue that will likely determine our ability to sustain life on this planet.
