Doubts about climate change

March 2017

Kudos to Aerospace America and Mr. [Tom] Risen for an article about global warming that doesn’t attempt to demonize people who doubt the premise that humans are entirely to blame [“CO2 Watchdogs,” January]. All too often, such articles are rife with subtle innuendo and propaganda designed to silence debate on what is a matter of science. I found the article actually tried to present both sides.

However, the cover text of the magazine, when considered with a critical eye, leads to some ridiculous conclusions. It implies that anything that produces CO2 is automatically a “polluter” that must some day be held “accountable” by some shadowy authority. Really? Since when did CO2 become a pollutant? It is necessary to support plant life (which, by the way, supports animal life in turn). Congressman [John] Culberson’s point is well-taken: There was more CO2 in the air in prehistoric times and no humans or cars to produce it, so the cause-and-effect linkage certainly warrants a healthy dose of scientific skepticism, not mere parroting of the latest edict from the mainstream media.

While I appreciate greatly the tone and even-handedness of the article, the underlying premise of the subject (and the cover of the magazine) is not an indisputable fact. I am disappointed that Aerospace America, the flagship publication of a professional society, has been drawn in by a dishonest media and their accomplices in the scientific community. It is my hope that, in the near future, scientific inquiry will win out over hype and politics.

Most sincerely,

Pete Badzey
AIAA associate fellow
Huntington Beach, California