Issue Identification (SPE-210)

Democrat Al Gore speaking about emissions.

Now I'm sure we can all look back and remember when this issue first came up in the political arena, and even today it's a debated subject -- I'm talking about global warming. Now it was brought to prominence in the 2000 presidential campaign by Al Gore, and even today it's unknown if global warming is a legitimate claim. As of today, the issue is argued both ways...

CO2 levels in the atmosphere over 3 centuries.

Liberals and conservatives both argue that there is a change in the Earth's temperature, but they differ in the reason for why there was a change. The liberal party states that global warming is caused by an increased production of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas).  They point out that the U.S. is a major contributor to global warming because it produces 25% of the world’s carbon dioxide. To fix the issue, they propose laws to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. and place them with high importance -- urging them to be enacted immediately to save the planet.


On the other side, conservatives argue that the change in global temperature is natural and happens often over long periods of time. They claim that research has not shown that humans can affect permanent change to the Earth’s temperature. In contrast to the liberal perspective, they would say that proposed laws to reduce carbon emissions will do nothing to help the environment and will cause significant price increases for all.

Which side is right? Unfortunately, no one knows the answer to that question. There's significant scientific research that supports both claims equally.

Earth's temperature change over 2 millennia.

It's true that the U.S. contributes 25% of the world's carbon dioxide, and that the temperature has increased, but no one can say that there's a correlation between the two. Scientists can look back on the history of the Earth and see that the temperature has risen and lowered drastically throughout time. Who's to say this isn't just another natural phenomenon that is completely normal and unavoidable.


However it seems that only time can tell whether global warming a true environmental threat, and until then, we can only guess.