(Photo: Walt Crampton is an engineer with San Diego’s TerraCosta Consulting Group, who's worked on evaluating and mitigating erosion on California’s coast for more than 30 years. Kenny Goldberg/KPBS. )
There’s broad agreement among scientists that man’s activities are causing global warming. Some scientists believe we have about a ten-year window to do something about it. But whether any broad steps are taken will depend on whether people at large believe in the phenomenon. And at this point, not everyone is convinced. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
The Crusin’ Grand car show is a Friday night tradition in Escondido.
In downtown Escondido, classic American cars are lined up on both sides of Grand Avenue. And each one of them has been beautifully restored.
There’s a 1947 Ford Deluxe. How about a cherried-out 1953 Buick? And then there’s a gleaming black 1972 Chevy Chevelle.
Dennis Trujillo : It’s got a 427 four-speed posi veran, it’s about 500 horsepower, and it’s a driver, an everyday driver, disc breaks all the way around. It’s a fun car.
It’s a gas-guzzler, too. But Dennis Trujillo doesn’t worry about that. He loves his car, and he’s not going to let something like global warming stop him from driving it.
Trujillo : I’m enjoying this thing right now. And I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna enjoy life as much as I can to its fullest, and when I’m gone the next guy can worry about global warming or whatever, you know.
Just down the street, Roger Monrail stands next to his ’57 Chevy Belair. He doesn’t think cars contribute to global warming, either.
Roger Monrail : Ah, I don’t buy into that, no. I really don’t think it’s a problem these days. Why not? Well, because newer cars emit a lot less emissions, and the older cars that are still around are well-tuned, and well taken care of.
Car enthusiasts aren’t the only ones who doubt that human activity is causing global warming.
Walt Crampton is an engineer with San Diego’s TerraCosta Consulting Group. For more than 30 years, he’s worked on evaluating and mitigating erosion on California’s coast.
Crampton has studied the landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
He concedes we’re seeing a rise in global temperatures, increased levels of carbon dioxide, and that sea level is changing, too. But he comes to a completely different conclusion than the IPCC.
Walt Crampton : The principal forcing functions are not man-made. Now man may be contributing to this. But the real issues are outside of man’s control. It’s really driven more by solar radiation.
Crampton says global climate change is a natural phenomenon.
Crampton : We have a 22,000 year orbital cycle that goes around the sun, that drives 22,000 year cycles for heating and cooling. And we see typical ice ages and interglacial periods on about a 22,000 year cycle.
Fred Schnaubelt is not an engineer, or a scientist.
But the former San Diego City Councilman considers himself to be well-read on the subject of global warming.
Schnaubelt thinks the idea that man is causing it is a ruse, and a ripoff.
Fred Schnaubelt : There are gobs of money, rivers of money, oceans of money being spent on global warming studies. Now just imagine. What do you think would happen if six-and-a-half billion dollars, which is what the federal government is spending this year, were spent on global cooling. We’d have global cooling, wouldn’t we? Ha, ha, ha.
And then there’s Mark Thornhill. He’s an editorial cartoonist with the North County Times. Thornhill makes it his business to skewer politicians and other blowhards. He’s been having a field day with the global warming issue.
Thornhill describes one of his cartoons that ran on Groundhog Day.
Mark Thornhill : One groundhog pops his head up, and he says, I predict slightly warmer temperatures due to global warming. And the second groundhog is alarmed. He says, ‘How are you going to get government grants with that? You’ve got to predict catastrophic storms, oceans swallowing up cities, the end of mankind, c’mon.’
Thornhill says his political leanings have nothing to do with his skepticism about global warming.
Thornhill : Whether it’s a Republican or Democratic issue is minor in this case. It’s the topic itself that I wish to address. And the politics are secondary.
But maybe they’re not.
The National Journal recently polled members of Congress, asking whether they believed human activity has caused global warming beyond a reasonable doubt. 95 percent of Democrats said yes. Only 13 percent of Republicans agreed.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
