Global Warming Article

Published:

Emporia News

Gaineville-Times

Democrats Blast Cuccinelli Over Global Warming

By Xanthe Waters and Laura Peters

Capital News Service

RICHMOND – A roomful of Democratic legislators voiced outrage over Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s legal actions challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s findings on global warming.

More than 15 Democratic senators and delegates gathered last week at the Capitol to urge Cuccinelli to withdraw his petition seeking to block the EPA’s finding that greenhouse gases from cars, factories and power plants pose a threat to humans.

“It’s Ken Cuccinelli vs. 2,000 of the world’s leading scientists,” said Delegate Albert Pollard, D-Lively. “He’s taking a knife to an intellectual gunfight, and he’s wasting taxpayers’ dollars.”

Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, said Cuccinelli’s lawsuit against the EPA is “misguided and a big waste of money.” He estimated it would cost the state between $250,000 and $500,000.

“That’s maybe 10 teachers or 10 policemen for a year. That’s hundreds of school breakfasts for schoolchildren. That’s money to go toward transportation, snow removal or even fixing potholes,” McEachin said.

“There are plenty of other good uses for that money rather than going on a frivolous jaunt of legal precedence.”

Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, studied the causes and effects of global warming as a member of Virginia’s Climate Change Commission, which was appointed in 2007 by then-Gov. Tim Kaine.

“The science on climate change is clear,” Northam said. “If we do nothing to reduce carbon emissions, we will disadvantage ourselves on a number of fronts.”

The Democratic lawmakers said the environmental effects of climate change in recent years have been obvious and undeniable.

Pollard spoke out for the farmers in the 99^th House District, which includes much of Virginia’s Northern Neck. He said this year was the wettest year on record, preventing many farmers from getting their tractors in the field to plow.

“My message to the attorney general is very simple,” Pollard said. “There are plenty of reasons to be upset about federal overreach, but their efforts to fight pollution should not be one of them.”

Sen. Patricia Ticer, D-Alexandria, is concerned about flooding along the coast because of global warming. She said several insurance companies have stopped writing new policies for homeowners in Virginia’s 19 coastal communities because of weather-related risks.

“It’s hard to believe our ears when we heard that there was enough money to go into a lawsuit on this issue, when we don’t have enough money to do education, health care and mental health,” Ticer said.

Cuccinelli was elected as attorney general last fall. Delegate Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, said she knew from one of the first campaign debates that Cuccinelli did not believe in global warming.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to see that the polar ice caps are melting,” McClellan said. “Even though we’ve had four blizzards in the past couple of months, [that] doesn’t mean that the average temperature of the Earth is not increasing.”

Cuccinelli has called the EPA’s data “unreliable, unverifiable and doctored.”

“It’s political science, not real science,” he said last month in announcing that he was challenging the agency’s attempts to crack down on the emission of greenhouse gases.

Cuccinelli said he fears that the EPA’s finding would hurt jobs and the economy in Virginia.