Jeff Denham Denies Man’s Role in Climate Change

At last count, there were 135 climate change deniers in congress. Jeff Denham is one of them. In fact since becoming California’s tenth congressional district representative, Denham has compiled a nearly perfect anti-environment, anti-science record.

One of his first acts upon taking office was to try to eliminate Wild and Scenic status for the Merced River. Overall, the League of Conservation Voters gives him an 11% rating on conservation issues. That means that almost ninety percent of the time, Jeff Denham votes against conservation and the environment.

Denham consistently votes “No” whenever legislation is introduced that might help us address the myriad problems associated with climate change and global warming.

To get an idea just how anti-science one has to be to deny climate change, go to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) “Global Climate Change Consensus” website. The list of scientific societies and agencies supporting climate change theory is mind-boggling. It includes the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Chemical Society, the Geological Society of America, and even the American Medical Association, among many, many, others.

Given the relentless blitz of disinformation about climate change via talk radio, cable news, and other media, it’s sometimes difficult to remember just how much evidence supports global warming claims. For one thing, ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is a result of human activities.

In 2009, a group of eighteen scientific organizations from around the world made the follow statement:

“Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver.”

The talk show hosts and other corporate shills would have us believe that climate change is a liberal conspiracy, but scientific evidence says otherwise. When climate change deniers cite reasons why human activities are unlikely causes of global warming, climate scientists refute their claims with study upon study of years of data.

Yes, we’ve had periods of warming before. In every case, activity from the sun was a major factor. Today, we can measure the sun’s activity. We can also see from the geological record the effects of the sun’s activities in the past. And scientists can say with a very high degree of certainty that the sun has almost nothing to do with our current warming trend—most likely less than ten percent.

Nonetheless, Jeff Denham and 134 other members of congress continue to deny man’s influence on global warming. In a district where agriculture is the driving economic engine, we know climate change will have huge effects. We’re already seeing dramatic changes in the Sierra snowpack. Given the facts, our region would be far better served by science than by denial. Jeff Denham should start listening to scientists rather than corporate shills.