News | Climate Change

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/03/scientists-take-another-run-at-climate-change/1

Eight Nobel-prize winning economists and scientists have joined more than 2,000 others in signing a letter today that urges the Senate to take swift action on climate change.

"The longer we wait, the harder and more costly it will be to limit climate change and to adapt to those impacts that will not be avoided," reads the letter, which is available on the Union of Concerned Scientists' website here. "Many emissions reduction strategies can be adopted today that would save consumers and industry money while providing benefits for air quality, energy security, public health, balance of trade, and employment."
The renewed effort to focus attention on the issue comes after a difficult few months for advocates who want Congress to pass legislation to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. First, there was the "climate-gate" scandal, in which hundreds of e-mails from climate scientists were posted on-line -- including some that questioned just how fast the earth's temperature is rising.
Then, the December climate summit in Copenhagen failed to produce a significant agreement on the issue. USA TODAY's Brian Winter takes a comprehensive look at where those and other setbacks leave the effort to address climate change in this piece from today's paper.
At one point last year, climate change legislation had been queued up behind health care in the list of priorities for congressional Democrats. The House narrowly passed so-called cap-and-trade legislation in June that would have taxed carbon emissions. But the Senate never embraced the approach. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has been a lead negotiator on the issue, has said lawmakers are pursuing a new bill that would instead focus on utility companies.