Public Citizen, the self-appointed environmental watchdog group, filed suit this month against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), seeking to force it to regulate carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gas emissions.
Public Citizen wants a Travis County judge to bar the state from approving coal-fired power plants until Texas starts regulating greenhouse gases, the alleged cause of the alleged problem of global warming.
There is one problem: Global warming is theory, not dogma.
Theories are meant to be debated, not accepted on faith. Theories are meant to be tested, and revised or abandoned, as new facts are discovered and better theories proposed. Anyone who seeks to stifle debate on a theory is acting unscientifically, and the motivations become suspect.
Anyone who insists on an immediate affirmation of an unproven "solution" is no better than a sleazy telemarketer: "This offer will not last long! You must act now!"
Why must we act now? Isn't it more sensible to carefully study the proposed solution and make sure it alleviates the alleged problem the way proponents claim? Wouldn't it make more sense to confirm the theory first?
But the "science" is settled, we're told. There's "consensus" on the problem and the solution.
Only the science isn't settled, and there is no consensus. In fact, the number of dissenters is growing.
One such dissenter is TCEQ chairman Bryan Shaw, who says the theory is just that: a theory.
"The science on global warming is far from settled," says Shaw. He warns that proposed regulations would "impose great costs on Texas, without any guarantee of a measurable environmental benefit. Reducing CO2 in Texas will do nothing to lower CO2 globally, but will have the effect of sending U.S. jobs to China and India."
Sounds like we need to think more about this. What's the rush?