With drought conditions across the country worsening, and with more than half of the nation listed as a disaster area, some scientists are linking current weather conditions to global climate change and are predicting that extreme drought could become a normal part of U.S. summer weather.
Climate change has been a controversial subject in American politics. With some politicians denying the existence of man-made climate change, Congress has been reluctant to take decisive action on global warming or environmental issues.
This, despite reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (which collected research from 378 scientists in 48 countries) stating, “Every weather event that happens now takes place in the context of a changing global environment.”
Some of the scientists involved in the report are now placing some of the blame for the climatological situation at the feet of major agribusinesses. Specifically, they cite the fate of 2009’s American Clean Energy and Security Act, known as Cap and Trade. The bill would have limited the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Agricultural advocacy groups joined congressional opposition to Cap and Trade, helping to kill the bill. The Farm Bureau, for example, launched a campaign called “Don’t Cap my Future” which stated, “Greenhouse gases may get cut but so will jobs and economic growth. Moving too far, too fast on something this sweeping seems to be asking to kill any resurgence in the U.S. economy in the wake of the banking debacle. “
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer