In Fairness to Corker
Below, Bruce Barry makes a good point, but in fairness to Sen. Bob Corker, who was at the Scene Friday explaining the extraordinarily complex cap-and-trade bill, it's clear that he's interested in arguing the merits of the legislation and in understanding the nature of global warming—but doesn't feel obliged to mire himself in the stuff of competing scientific theories.
For over an hour, Corker—who has traveled to Greenland, met with academics and scientists and is on an informal statewide media tour explaining this monumental bill (whose goals he seems to favor but whose particular execution he opposes)—demonstrated an impressive mastery of this potential public policy and of the nature of carbon emissions. And for what it's worth, he made it clear to us that he believes humans do contribute to climate change. Here's what he told us:
I’m not here to actually debate the science. There’s still people who debate like heck the whole issue of whether the world is warming naturally, which there’s no question that through centuries the earth warms and cools. By the way, no better example than Greenland. I mean, why was Greenland called Greenland? The Vikings went there about 1,000 years ago, and people were growing potatoes there. And they said, 'Hey, come on over here; it’s warm, you can grow stuff here.' Now, it’s an ice cap, obviously. But the point is, the earth does naturally warm and cool. Nobody debates that. What people do debate is whether man is contributing to the warming. I’m not going to debate that. I believe it is occurring, though I can’t tell how acute it is....
BB, you would be pleased to know that Corker traveled to Greenland with, among others, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom Corker made a special point of noting is one of his best Senate buds. "I love Bernie Sanders. Bernie is a socialist, and that’s not a description; that’s a noun. I love him. He is the only socialist in the Senate."
Comments
Bob Corker, asked in Knoxville during his campaign for the Republican Senate nomination whether he believed the climate was changing: “You know, there are a body of scientists who think what the questioner said is true, there is a body of scientists who think that's not the case. It’s just part of the changes that are taking place.”
Gotta hand it to Bob. He'll say anything anyone wants to hear. Even Liz.
Posted 04/22/2008 at 09:51:31 PM