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Letters in the editor's mailbag.

Article Excerpt
Byline: The Register-Guard

Global warming is political

In Bob Doppelt's April 28 op-ed column promoting his job with the University of Oregon "Climate Leadership Initiative," he states, "Global warming remains a politically divisive issue."

He then accurately reports the issue as having "believers" and "deniers" that can be profiled along Democrat-Republican party lines. The reason for this division is because global warming really is - as Doppelt further demonstrates - a political issue, rather than any type of "scientific consensus."

Doppelt claims that "few credible scientists today deny the Earth is warming." In general, that might be taken as a true statement. He then flatly asserts, "the human emission of greenhouse gases is the primary cause of today's warming." Pure politics!

Where does Doppelt get these "facts?" Al Gore or Ted Kulongoski? Other Democrats? I'll bet there aren't many Republican scientists or politicians who would dare make such debatable assertions. As a forest scientist long familiar with the issue, I personally take strong exception to this statement - of course, I haven't voted Democratic since Kennedy, and am not paid to state otherwise.

The important fact missing in this long-running political debate is that global warming is vastly preferable to the human race than global cooling. People prefer vacations in Hawaii to the Arctic for lots of good reasons. Ice ages are harsh on most life, not just humans.

If people can actually control "climate change"...

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