Hey Friends, Vancouverites and East Van Countrymen,

Lend me your ears. Or rather, lend Texas Governor Rick Perry your ears. I recently read an article by the Huffington post in which Perry holds on to his position as a public figure in a prominent position who is staunchly skeptical of the now widely accepted theory of man made global warming. Here is a link to the article and some video footage of the governor himself touting his beliefs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/01/rick-perry-climate-change-global-warming-science_n_990213.html

A little background on the man in question: James Richard Perry or “Rick Perry” was born in 1950 and having served as the governor of Texas for 11 years he is the longest continuously serving governor in the history of the United States – this in concurrence with his 2012 Presidential campaign lead me to believe he is a pretty popular figure down south. This is a link to a video called “Strong” Perry’s camp released upon him annoucing his presidential aims:

This video features such winning quotes as: “there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, and your kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas.” Perry is a Republican ( no way!) even though his father was a democrat, and got his bachelor of animal science from Texas A&M University.

Perry’s reasoning for doubting the validity of a human driven change in climate is concise and… simplistic. Basically he believes that because Earth’s climate has been fluctuating for millenia (multiple ice ages etc.) the change in Earth’s climate currently is simply part of a larger process, and he does not want to see the US Economy put at risk based on “science that is still not settled.”

Another insightful argument he utilized is that there are enough people that doubt its occurance that he can reasonably doubt it as well. With such carefully applied logic as that, its no wonder Perry is so popular. Honestly the argument that the current climate state is simply once piece of a larger predetermined climate puzzle has been one of the most prevalent in the crusade to disprove human kinds involvement, and it certainly has some validity. There have been major fluctuations over millenia and their have been multiple ice ages. However, this argument has been dealt with! The rate at which the climate is changing today is far, far faster than what past millenia have dealt with. In the last 130 years the global temperature has risen by almost one Celsius, an unprecedented change (Thank you Insights Lesson One). Perry is trying to say that because their are scientists that don’t believe climate change is happening, he can happily indulge in this belief himself without criticism. Is he looking for millions of people to be unanimous before he changes his mind? Alternatively Perry, you might try investigating the problem yourself and creating an informed decision. That, I could respect.

Thanks Guys! Over and Out