No more time for Ernst’s skepticism

Personally, I consider Sen. Joni Ernst to be a legislator of a very high distinction, because, after considerable effort, she managed to become one of three members of this chamber that the League of Conservation Voters has given a lifetime rating of 0 percent.

For Iowans, of gravest concern should be her position on global warming, and if we are focusing narrowly on the economic costs, the evidence unambiguously suggests there will be a sharp decline functionally related to a rise global temperatures.

In a 2015 study from the University of California, Berkeley, the authors created a model predicting that by 2100, unmitigated climate change will lead to 77 percent of countries becoming poorer in per capita terms. And, in the same scenario, global incomes will decline by 23 percent.

Doubtlessly, Ernst will take solace from the absurd projections manufactured by the climate denial industry. But, if you refer to seven of the 12 models in the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, you will see that record temperatures set in 2016 could only be attributed to radiated forcing that's anthropogenic, and that nothing like the temperatures observed in the warming trend of the last century has been seen in 24,000 years of simulations. Therefore, unless Ernst is content to force her children to endure a slow bleeding national suicide, the imperative for evidentiary-supported action should be abundantly clear.

Scott Roland

Cedar Rapids