(Chicago, Illinois -January 31, 2006) On Tuesday, January 30, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chaired the first of what is expected to be many hearings by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works dedicated to global warming. The following statement is from James M. Taylor, senior fellow for environment policy with The Heartland Institute. You may quote from this statement in part or in full. To interview Mr. Taylor call 941/776-5690 or email [email protected].
“California Senator Barbara Boxer apparently believes science is irrelevant to the issue of global warming, as no scientists were called to testify before her January 30 committee hearing. Instead, Senators themselves were called upon to express their own feelings about global warming.
“Boxer’s opening statement typified the low status science has on the Senate floor.
“Boxer predicted ‘catastrophic’ changes in sea levels. Yet the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted merely a one foot rise in sea levels during next century. That is actually less than the world has averaged per-century since the end of the last ice age.
“Boxer also predicted other ‘catastrophic’ weather events, despite research on the Little Ice Age showing that extreme weather events occur more frequently during global cold spells than during global warmth.
“Boxer predicted ‘catastrophic’ declines in food production, yet crop yields have been rising significantly during recent ‘unprecedented’ warming.
“The proposed solutions to global warming, such as the Kyoto Protocol, would have no measurable effect on global temperatures–but devastating effects on the U.S. economy. That economic reality has caused 13 of the 15 European Union nations to fail to meet their Kyoto goals.
“We can have economic prosperity, or we can take entirely symbolic steps to address global warming. As Europe is discovering, we cannot accomplish both. Let’s hope Sen. Boxer’s next ‘hearing’ faces these facts.”
