Sadly, this recent paper on global warming (PDF) from the Senate Republican Policy Committee, which is chaired by Kay Bailey Hutchison, demonstrates that too many in the GOP still refuse to cop to the scientific consensus in this area. Many aspects of the document's discussion are judicious and well informed. Yet at the same time, the conclusions are completely skewed:
There are three general areas of scientific agreement on climate change. • Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have risen from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 380 ppm over the last century due in large part to fossil fuel consumption. • The Earth's average temperature has risen approximately 1.3 degrees F over the last century. • Carbon dioxide, methane, and a few other trace gases exert a warming influence on the climate. • Beyond these areas of general agreement, there is considerable uncertainty. • Although rising greenhouse gas concentrations should ...
