IGNORING THE OBVIOUS IN TEXAS

It's hotter than ever in Texas, with its record breaking streak of days with 100+ degree temperatures as proof, but Texas governor/presidential candidate Rick Perry says that global warming is a bunch of hooey and his adoring fans keep nodding. Texas is also suffering from one of the longest droughts ever recorded in the region, but Texas governor/presidential candidate Rick Perry says that climate change is just a bunch of hooey, and all his adoring fans keep nodding at that one too. The same goes for melting polar ice caps and the large increase of tornadoes in America. According to Perry, it's all a fluke!

I understand the notion that everything's bigger in Texas, which includes the tales of Texas politicians, but what I can't understand is why Texans suffering under the relentless heat tout Perry as some kind of hero and think all he says is gospel truth. Perhaps the heat has fried their brains and mass dehydration has set in. I hear that both cause hallucinations, which might account for some of the hero worship, but, come on. Perry's education hasn't included a single science class on the environment, so it's not like the guy has any legitimate scientific credentials – unless taking in tens of thousands of dollars of fossil fuel industry donations counts for anything.

Climatologists warn that melting sea ice will raise the height of our oceans by three feet over the next twenty years, but few in the political arena seem to want to confront exactly what that will mean for the tens of millions of folks who live within a few miles of shorelines. Much of that area will be inundated with water, and if folks think that barriers will keep the rising oceans at bay, they are seriously underestimating the power of Mother Nature. Perry's pandering will not hold back high tide, let alone a storm surge, nor will sticking heads in the sand keep folks dry.

Global warming is already here, whether the good folks in Texas want to acknowledge it or not. The proof is right outside their front door.