LETTER: Learn before deciding

Dear Editor,

I read with interest a commendable letter about global warming in the Nov. 9 Statesman. One of the evidences supporting the author’s argument was the research done by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), which claims carbon dioxide emissions cannot be the primary cause of global warming.

After searching information presented by the Union of Concerned Scientists – a group founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by faculty and students who were concerned about the misuse of science and technology – I found some fishy facts linked to these claims.

In 1997, Sallie Baliunas, an astronomer at the CfA, claimed solar activity is the primary cause of global warming, and CO2 emissions are secondary. Fascinatingly, she made this announcement at the same time the Clinton administration was working to negotiate the Kyoto Treaty.

She is affiliated with a group called the Global Climate Coalition. This group – founded by corporations – funded numerous flawed studies on the economical effects of mitigating climate change. The GCC then used these studies as a backbone for a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign to eradicate the Kyoto Protocol – which they believed was severely flawed. They blame the sun for global warming.

Sallie Baliunas was also a key player in the Global Warming Petition Project. This campaign’s purpose was to use crafty tactics to get scientists around the country into signing a petition against the Kyoto Protocol. This campaign also made efforts to discredit those who spoke out for the urgent need of the Kyoto deal.

Whether or not Baliunas’ affiliations have anything to do with her (and therefore the CfA’s) declaration that global warming is primarily caused by the sun – we do not know. But we do know that thousands of scientists the world over believe CO2 emissions are the primary cause for the Earth’s rising temperatures, and the sun is only secondary. My plea is that each of us – rather than jumping to conclusions based on what “he said” or “she said” – will formulate our views carefully by researching and finding answers for ourselves.

Ben Watkins