To the Journal editor:

In your January 9th issue, you published a column written by Cal Thomas, a well-known climate change denier, questioning the scientific consensus that supports humans are responsible for a dangerous climate change. Although Thomas quoted one scientist to back up his belief that people are not the cause of the climate change that is causing more economically-disruptive extreme weather events, the great majority of the most qualified scientists in my field of atmospheric science believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for this dangerous climate change and that urgent action to reduce these emissions is necessary to avoid the worst impacts.

Although deniers like Thomas claim the science blaming human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is not “settled,” the U.S. National Academy of Sciences–which has been referred to as the Supreme Court of Science–has concluded: “A strong, credible body of scientific evidence show that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems.”

Several of the other professional groups with similar views include the American Meteorological Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Physical Society. Additionally, a study conducted by Dr Peter Doran of the University of Illinois found that 96.2 percent of the most active climatologists who have published peer-reviewed work agree humans are responsible for the climate change that is driving an increasing number of weather-related disasters.

Cal Thomas’ “cherry picking” of a scientist to support his political ideology and view that humans are not responsible for climate change while ignoring the overwhelming opposite scientific opinion is deceitful and dangerous. Fortunately, a bi-partisan group in the U.S. Congress has introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, a revenue-neutral bill that would encourage a transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources in the U.S. Although this legislation would tax fossil fuel consumption, the revenue will be returned to households in the form of a monthly dividend check. I ask your readers to contact Rep. Jack Bergman (906-273-2227) as well as Senators Debbie Stabenow (906-228-8756) and Gary Peters (906-226-4554) and urge them to support passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.