Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 04/16/2009 4:57:26 AM PDT by Libloather
Pacheco, Frank, Ballard speak at global warming meeting
By TIM FAULKNER, Staff Writer
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 15, 2009 @ 10:58 PM
FALL RIVER — A panel of political leaders and a famous oceanographer advised students at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth to make the best of a bad situation and embrace global warming.
“The world is literally your future,” state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, told a crowd of about 200 students assembled in the school library Wednesday.
Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass, oceanographer Robert Ballard, and Pacheco were recognized for their efforts to combat global warming and support green industries.
The event, sponsored by campus members of the Massachusetts Student Public Interest Group, helped connect student activists with some of the top leaders in science and the climate change.
“It’s a good way to get students involved,” Pacheco said. “We’ve got to challenge ourselves to do the most we can do to solve climate change.”
Pacheco received a hearty round of applause for sponsoring the Global Warming Solutions Act, one of the most aggressive state laws to mandate reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
“Climate change to me is not just an environmental issue,” Pacheco said. “I see it as a public health, national security and the economic development issue of the century.
Ballard, known for his deep-sea discoveries of the Titanic and the German battleship the Bismark, noted that the planet is mostly submerged by oceans and would likely survive rapid climate change. “Earth will rebound,” he said. “I’m more worried about the human race.”
Through disease, natural disasters, and over-population, humans will likely drive themselves to extinction, he said.
To cut energy consumption, Ballard advocated for expanding home-based technology, transforming careers and travel. But one concept, he said, would solve most societal problems. “To save the human race is the empowerment of women.”
A world lead by women, he explained, would end the cycle of 12-year-old children having children and becoming great-grandmothers in their 30s. “The key right now is to arrest the explosive growth of humans.”
As a co-sponsor of the Renewable Energy Act and a supporter of all environmental bills in Congress last year, Frank received MassPirg’s Climate Champion award along with Ballard and Pacheco.
He urged students to let their elected officials know where they stand on environmental issues and bills before Congress, such as upcoming legislation that will require green building practices for public housing construction and incentives for commercial builders of energy efficient homes.
Frank also gave his support for the proposed South Coast Commuter Rail and boasted of securing federal funds for the New Bedford-based electric-vehicle manufacturer Vectrix.
“You’ve heard those nasty remarks about earmarks,” he said. “I got one for Vectrix.”
Students seemed impressed by the high-caliber speakers. “I think it helped make students more aware of what’s going on,” said junior Matt Gray, a native of Taunton.
The debate is over - when you're amongst friends...
I know Mark Pacheco, A nice guy, but his elevator doesn’t go to the penthouse.
The energy needs of America will NOT be provided by ignoring Nuclear Power and telling fairy tales about the potential of wind and solar power.
The agenda is limiting American industry and capitalism in search of power and control.
A world lead by women, he explained, would end the cycle of 12-year-old children having children and becoming great-grandmothers in their 30s. “The key right now is to arrest the explosive growth of humans.”
I swear these dolts have contests on a daily basis to see who can come up with the most absolute idiotic thing to say.
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