Does Governor Rick Scott refuse to deny climate change out of love for campaign donations from major polluters? Or does he actually believe that the planet is 6,000 years old? Whatever the answer, it sure as hell is frustrating that climate-change deniers choose to ignore the overwhelming scientific consensus that the earth’s average temperature is rapidly rising due to our insistence on constantly pumping CO2 into the atmosphere.
That’s why it’s pretty fortuitous that comedian and physicist Bill Nye (fka the Science Guy) should be coming to USF’s Marshall Center Tuesday, Apr. 7 at 7:30 p.m. After all, it was just weeks ago that Florida (again) became the international butt of many jokes when reports surfaced suggesting Scott’s administration had banned the use of phrases like “climate change” and “sea-level rise” from the internal and external communications of multiple state agencies.
True, Nye will likely be preaching to the choir. But his appearance will most certainly be a refreshing reminder that not everybody builds their beliefs on a selective mix of passages from a single book (be it Rand or Leviticus).
So here's a quick primer on Nye vs. the naysayers on climate change, in their own words.
“It’s not that the world hasn’t had more carbon dioxide. It’s not that the world hasn’t been warmer. The problem is the speed at which it’s happening. We are inducing a sixth mass extinction event kind of by accident. And we don’t want to be the ‘extinctee’ — if I may coin a term. —Nye
“CO2 in my opinion is not a pollutant. God gave us CO2 to grow plants, for us to exhale, everything else.” —FL State Rep. John Wood (R-Winter Haven)
“We are a result of evolution, and therefore so are our creations — both the not-so-good and very good. It’s glorious.” —Nye
“Evolution and creationism both require faith. It’s just a matter of where you choose to place that faith.” —GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson
“You don’t need a PhD in climate science to understand what’s going on, that we have overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing. That you cannot tie any one event to that is not the same as doubt about the whole thing.” —Nye
“Well, I’m not a scientist” —Gov. Rick Scott
“If we continue to eschew science … we are not going to move forward. We will not embrace natural laws. We will not make discoveries. We will not invent and innovate and stay ahead.” —Nye
“I’m a skeptic, not a scientist.” —Former Florida governor and GOP presidential prospect Jeb Bush
“Science is the key to our future, and if you don’t believe in science, then you’re holding everybody back.” —Nye
“I’m not a scientist, man.” —Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
“Look at the facts. We need you to change things, not deny what’s happening.” —Nye
“I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying. And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it. Except it will destroy our economy.” —Sen. Marco Rubio
“The Earth is just a speck of sand in the universe. And there’s no cavalry coming over the hill to rescue it.” —Nye
“The world is on fire, yes. Your world is on fire.” —Sen. Ted Cruz, to a terrified 3-year-old.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.