Dissent is welcome in science, but misunderstood by the general population. The news reports both sides of the story, even if one side is less committed to the search for truth, or less informed—a tiny minority opinion. Simply because there are dissenters does not mean that we should accept their work without carefully weighing the evidence. It makes no sense in scientific terms to base policy on a compromise between the preponderance of evidence and the less-proven hypotheses of dissenters. The Flat Earth Society is still going strong, with ever more elaborate theories, though we would not suggest basing policy, technology, or travel plans on their ideas.
Similarly in climate science, the preponderance of evidence shows that fossil fuel combustion is responsible for the key elements of global climate change. There are a few dissenters in the scientific community but the scientific consensus view is dramatically uniform, with 98 percent concurring with the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
As for the need for fossil fuels, there is ample proof that we can both reduce our need for energy by 50 percent and produce 50 percent of our energy from renewable energy by 2030. In the process, we’ll create more jobs and reduce carbon emissions proportionally. Those are the policy recommendations of the American Solar Energy Association for the 111th Congress. This is repeatedly proven, reliable technology, much of which I have been working with for many years. We know quite well how to move rapidly from our current high-carbon energy economy to a low-carbon energy economy. With vigorous action we can reduce our carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. That’s a lot faster than we can put new coal or nuclear plants online.
Let’s put this in perspective: we are playing Russian roulette with our environment. We’ll base our little game on the number of qualified scientists who agree with the IPCC and National Academy of Science vs. the dissenters. In the magazine of our revolver, we have about 98 bullets and two empty chambers. You go first.
Mark E. Kelley III, PE
The Hickory Consortium
Depot Road
