Scientists offer to explain climate change to "not a scientist" Rick Scott

Will he take them up on this amazing offer?

Published July 16, 2014 6:12PM (EDT)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott                  (AP/J Pat Carter)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (AP/J Pat Carter)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has yet to acknowledge that man-made climate change is happening, because he's "not a scientist." So some scientists are offering to explain it to him. Problem solved!

"We are scientists," wrote 10 prominent Florida scientists in a letter to the governor, "and we would like the opportunity to explain what is at stake for our state." The letter, which they hand-delivered yesterday to Scott's office and shared with the Miami Herald, continues:

In short, Florida is one of the most vulnerable places in the country with respect to climate change, with southeastern Florida of particular concern.

This is not a hypothetical. Thousands of scientists have studied the issue from a variety of angles and disciplines over many decades. Those of us signing this letter have spent hundreds of years combined studying this problem, not from any partisan political perspective, but as scientists — seekers of evidence and explanations. As a result, we feel uniquely qualified to assist you in understanding what's already happening in the climate system so you may make the most effective decisions about what must be done to protect the state, including reducing emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants.

"It's not rocket science," commented Jeff Chanton, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University. "I can explain it. Give me half an hour."

It would be really weird if Scott, who is not a scientist but is responsible for the future of his state, parts of which are already experiencing the effects of climate change in a very real and scary way, didn't take them up on this amazing offer.

Update 7/7/2014: Scott told reporters he'll be "happy to meet" with the scientists.

h/t Climate Progress


By Lindsay Abrams

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