Climate Change is Real
Hello, my name is Neal Gale, speaking to you on behalf of the Pennsylvania Green Party. Thank you for taking just a few minutes to hear what I have to say in response to the President's State of the Union address.
I believe it is vitally important to counter the President's position on many issues, but I am going to focus on just one, climate change and our national response to it.
We have never faced a moment like this in all of human history, where the choices we make will have such a profound, direct and lasting impact on the quality of our lives and our future. Far beyond the choices we make that affect what neighborhood we want to live in, what schools our children will attend, what job we pursue, how we respond to the reality of the changes in our climate, already occurring here and around the globe, will determine the severity of the challenges we will face as the decades unfold ahead of us.
To begin with, climate change is real – supported by multiple scientific disciplines and countless data. Studies show that there is solid scientific consensus, with nearly 100% of climate scientists agreeing it is caused by human activity, particularly the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which acts like glass in a greenhouse, trapping heat beneath it.
We have unequivocal documentation correlating the steadily increasing levels of carbon dioxide with the steadily increasing average temperature of our planet.
Already the addition of so much heat is altering the balance of our climatic systems causing human suffering, damage to property and devastation to the biosphere.
Already our oceans have absorbed enough heat to significantly alter the ecological balance of the sea to the point that half of our coral reefs, home to 25% of marine species, have perished. Another 40% are expected to die off within the next 30 years.
We must do everything we can to slow this process down, which will take more political will and support at the upper levels of government than we now have. The president's lack of understanding or his disingenuous denial of the facts creates dangerous consequences for us all, especially for our daughters and sons, nieces and nephews, friends and loved ones who will face struggles and challenges, unimagined until now. We cannot ignore it. We cannot acquiesce to whatever interests are directing the president's policy. We must all take the lead in this non-partisan, non-politically motivated response to what many very thoughtful people consider to be humanity's greatest challenge.
Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts regarding this critical matter. My hope is that you have been inspired to investigate this issue further. Read about it. Listen to what scientists are saying about our changing climate and what they're predicting for the future of our planet. Come to your own conclusions, and ask yourself, are our leaders doing enough, quickly enough?
Thank you.