Rabu, 22 April 2015
parsing palins language
In response to Gwen Ifills question, Palin first acknowledged that the climate was changing. Then she said shes "not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in climate." (Isnt that backwards?) "There is something to be said also for mans activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet," Palin said.
Biden was more direct. "The cause is man-made. Thats the cause. Thats why the polar icecap is melting," he said.
Taken simply at face value, I bet most scientists would be more comfortable with Palins conclusion -- at least here in Alaska, its pretty clear that cyclical patterns are playing a significant role in the recent warming. But in the context of the climate "debate," Palins language signifies skepticism of the current scientific understanding while Bidens signifies trust in it.
Palin also echoed the idea she offered to Katie Couric, namely that the causes dont matter so much as the solutions. But those solutions dont make sense without an acknowledgement of the causes, and Palins subsequent statements demonstrated that she at least sees human activities as a factor in climate change. Palin said she supports capping emissions of greenhouse gases and wants to ensure that other countries are also subject to caps. "Weve got to reduce emissions," she said.
Andy Revkin at the NY Times had some good points on the vagueness of both candidates comments on cap-and-trade legislation and "clean coal."
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