[Dec 5, 2015] Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says climate change poses “major” national security threat to the U.S.
“I mean, we’re talking about, according to the CIA, future, major national security issues when people are forced to migrate because their countries or their land are flooded, they can’t grow food,” Sanders said at a rally in Keene, N.H., on Saturday. “We’re talking about a major, major crisis.”
The Vermont senator said there is no longer any debate among scientists on what causes climate change and what its consequences will be.
“The debate is over. Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity, and it is already causing profound disturbances all over America and all over the world,” he said.
Sanders slammed the Republican Party for “rejecting science” on the issue of climate change.
“Somehow on this issue of climate change, an entire, major political party is rejecting science, and that is a very dangerous thing to do,” he said.
He accused Republicans of being beholden to special interests in the fossil fuel lobby.
Sanders’ remarks come amid the COP21 climate change talks in Paris, which President Obama attended earlier this week.
World leaders reached an agreement on a tentative carbon emissions reduction deal Saturday.”
http://time.com/4128624/hillary-clinton-climate-change/
Hillary: “........As President, I will protect and build on the progress President Obama has made at home. I will set ambitious goals-to see 500 million solar panels installed within four years and enough renewable electricity to power every home in America within 10 years. I’ll also pursue a new North American Climate Compact, because the United States, Canada and Mexico should work together to build a clean energy future for our continent.
And the Republican deniers, defeatists and obstructionists should know-their cynical efforts will fail. Not only are they on the wrong side of science and of history, they are increasingly on the wrong side of their own voters, as a majority of Republicans accept the science of climate change, and support solutions like clean energy.
We must reject the false choice between combating climate change and fostering strong economic growth. If any country can prove that, it’s the United States. Under President Obama, we’re leading the world in the fight against climate change. I won’t let anyone to take us backward, deny our economy the benefits of harnessing a clean energy future, or force our children to endure the catastrophe that would result from unchecked climate change.
Once again, the world looks to Paris-this time in hope. Global challenges demand global solutions. The fight against climate change will be long. It will take the efforts of every country, every industry, and every community. It will take the leadership of every President. But at last-in Paris-the framework of a lasting solution is within reach. We must seize this moment. - Hillary Clinton [Nov 29, 2015]
"The debate is over."
Pretty much - the childish "I am right, you are wrong; I win, you lose" is not a debate. If one side declares their opinions / "projections" as incontrovertible "facts" and/or one of two sides doesn't engage in the "debate," because they are "right" and the other side is "wrong" (and is declared a "denier") then there is no debate possible.
"Climate change is real,"
True, and has always been true. The same cannot be said of Global Warming - witness the major and mini cooling (Ice Ages) and warming periods. If the climate never changed (i.e., remained constant) even the notion of climate wouldn't exist.
"... it is caused by human activity,"
Patently false, because dramatic and/or drastic changes in climate existed for much longer than the alleged ability of humans to radically affect climate. If anything, relatively recent man-made technologies greatly increased the ability of humans to adapt to effects of naturally ever-changing climate, and even provide the conditions that saved many species of animal kingdom from extinction.
Even most non-alarmist environmentalists, including "The Skeptical Environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg, admit that "cutting too much CO2 would be very costly" and that warming climate over last several centuries has been and, if continues, would be greatly beneficial for agriculture, eradicating or containing many epidemic diseases and increasing economic activity and thus survivability and prosperity of people in most parts of the world.
On the issue of health and disease, the author points out that even in disease-prone Africa, the rise in the incidence of disease from climate change will be 3% at most, and that even this estimate is probably "exaggerated." He emphasizes an irony with upbeat implications: Rapid economic growth is central for scenarios producing global warming, but with higher incomes resulting from that growth, disease is manageable and will be managed."
- Bjorn LomborgPeople may, at best and at great expense, marginally affect the local climate environment and — as most organic physicists and biologists know — it would not be due to increased emitted amounts of CO2 / carbon dioxide, which has been proven not to affect climate but which is a byproduct and is necessary for the carbon-based life on planet Earth (UN climate change body suffers mammoth European carbon fraud - FR, posts #1, #14, 2015 September 08)
"... and it is already causing profound disturbances all over America and all over the world,"
Whatever one's definition of "profound disturbances" may be, this is sheer idiocy devoid of any facts, and ignoring all the provable facts to the contrary. But by the standard of "I said it, therefore it is true and anyone who doesn't echo this is the denier", then all that can be said is "that'll do pig, that'll do"...
"If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." - Jim Barksdale