Climate-Change Deniers Are Retreating

California Drought

Alan: Friend Rob Jackson, a "hydro-biologist" at Stanford University, says that epochal drought in California (a drought whose epicenter encompasses Arizona and New Mexico) may well extend as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area. 

"The Danger Of Science Denial"

TED Talk by Michael Specter

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/03/ted-talk-danger-of-science-denial.html

Poll: Americans Starting To Worry About Climate Change Now That It Affects Their Lawns

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/04/poll-americans-starting-to-worry-about.html

MILBANK: Climate-change deniers are retreating. "The latest attempt to deny denial comes from the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful group that pushes for states to pass laws that are often drafted by industry. ... ALEC is not only insisting that it doesn’t deny climate change — it’s threatening to sue those who suggest otherwise. ... The problem for ALEC is that as recently as 2013, it was still reaffirming 'model legislation' calling on states to consider 'legitimate and scientifically defensible alternative hypotheses' to the 'mainstream scientific positions' on climate. The proposed legislation states that there is 'a great deal of scientific uncertainty' about the matter... To be sure, this is a tactical retreat, and you shouldn’t expect conservative groups to start lining up in favor of a carbon tax. Rather, they’re resorting to more defensible arguments that don’t make them sound like flat-earthers." The Washington Post

Oregon's governor has declared more counties in a drought. "Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a drought emergency on Monday in three southern and central Oregon counties, expanding upon earlier drought declarations the Democrat made in March, as the state faces record low snowpack levels. Continuing drought has caused 'natural and economic disaster conditions' in Oregon's Crook, Harney and Klamath counties, heightening wildfire risk, and threatening wildlife and agriculture, Brown said." Courtney Sherwood for Reuters.