Climate policies affect everyone

A Sunday letter from the Union of Concerned Scientists (“Consider climate change information source”) referred to climate contrarianism as “extreme” and encouraged readers to dismiss the independent scientific findings of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), in favor of the alarmist findings from the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Not only is it unfair to characterize any dissenting view from your own as “extreme,” but also conveniently distracting from what the IPCC report actually says: There has been a 15-year pause in global warming, despite increased carbon dioxide emissions, and despite climate models having predicted otherwise.

If the IPCC admits they don't have all the answers, then perhaps we should hear from alternate viewpoints. With climate policies affecting millions of jobs and energy costs nationwide, everyone has a stake in the game.

Taylor Smith

Policy analyst

The Heartland Institute

Mount Prospect, Ill.