> Home > 2009 Survey on Climate Change for Virginia State Legislators

2009 Survey on Climate Change for Virginia State Legislators

by Tyla Matteson

A short survey on climate change was distributed to all 140 state legislators in January, with a January 30 deadline.  We received responses from 21 Delegates and 7 Senators, and as we stated to the legislators, we are posting their names and responses.  Click here to view the details of the 2009 survey (pdf).

With a 20% return, we have a sampling of elected officials across the board, from various localities in Virginia, rural and urban, to include criteria of gender, race, and age.  We will be happy to accept legislator’s surveys past the deadline.

The survey began with a paragraph about the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) explaining their Fourth Assessment report of 2007, done by 2500 scientific experts, with the consensus that global climate change is most likely human caused, translating to 90% likely.  The report says changes include more frequent heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation events, shrinking of arctic sea ice, and sea level rise from thermal expansion, melting ice caps and glaciers.

Remarks:

The respondents represent Republicans (6), Democrats (21), and Independents (1). The two most staunch skeptics on climate change were Republicans, although other Republicans concurred with the IPCC findings in their responses.  Of interest is the correlation of those who are skeptics or somewhat skeptical with a lesser number of constituents who have contacted them on climate change.  Likewise, a higher number of constituents who have contacted a legislator correlates with a legislator having more concern about climate change and more likely to take immediate action.

Our survey spurred an interesting response from a group called the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, who apparently sent letters to the legislators, disparaging our survey.  The letter said greenhouse gases contribute to global warming as much as do variations in solar radiation, and temperatures will not likely rise in the next five years.  Therefore we should wait five years and see what kind of cycle the sun is going through.  One answer this group proposes to solve the problem is with geo-engineering, to replicate a volcanic eruption, shooting reflective aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce temperatures. 

In response to this far-fetched idea, Ross Gelbspan wrote that other researchers predict seeding the atmosphere would trigger a global drought, after studying the effects of the eruption of Pinatubo in 1991.  Ross Gelbspan is the author of well-known books on climate change, The Heat is On, Boiling Point, and maintains the website, www.heatisonline.org.

Another note of interest is an excerpt from a recent newsletter from State Senator Stosch to his constituents in the Richmond area on climate change:

“There are a host of bills to encourage increased investments in clean or "green" businesses plus regulations on those businesses which are not.  Many initiatives come from the Governor's Climate Change Commission.  The Commission based its recommendations on the view that global warming is a settled matter of fact and decided that Virginia should pursue strategies ahead of whatever initiatives the Obama administration might consider.  You may want to question those assumptions.  I do.”

“Former Delegate and current Gubernatorial candidate, Brian Moran is against coal energy. Why, you ask? Moran believes that a proposed coal plant in Surry County will cause global warming and harm the Chesapeake Bay. Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that coal is a natural resource that has not been linked to any environmental harm. In fact, it is a clean burning alternative fuel source…..Coal is good, Brian, and it does not cause global warming like your good friend, Al Gore presumes.”