Why the flare up?

Senator Steve Fielding may not be popular right now amongst many Australian environmentalists for holding up the works while he investigates to what extent atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing global warming.
However, I’d suggest that it's simple responsibility for a politician to look at both/all sides to an issue without any preconceptions. The role of solar flares in temperature change should be investigated at a political level. Government scientists should present their case to Senator Fielding.

Steve Fielding appears to be genuinely searching for the facts on the matter. In fact, his self-funded trip to the USA is quite gutsy given the pressure to make a quick decision and given the multitude of voices saying "What could you possibly know or determine?" We have a similar responsibility to become informed before we form a position (or vote), no matter what our current level of knowledge is.

Of course, if solar flares are at some stage found to be the main cause of global warming, there may be no less impetus to reduce carbon emissions – after all, carbon emission reduction is at least partially within our power - but that is a separate debate. We should be progressing on reliable scientific facts as Steve Fielding is endeavouring to do.

The green movement may have been rather exclusive in the past, but we now have no choice but to be inclusive.

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