Frank X. Moraga
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
It was an interesting bit of political theater presented in Congress last week.
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe wandered onto the Senate floor during a discussion questioning the science behind climate change.
“Do you know what this is? It’s a snowball,” said Inhofe, who was seen holding the frozen orb aloft in a television news segment and story on CBS News.
“It’s just from outside here, so it’s very, very cold out … very unseasonable,” he said. “Mr. President, catch this,” as he tossed the “evidence”? in the direction of a congressional page.
And so goes Sen. Inhofe’s proof that climate change is a “hoax,” supporting his opposition to the president’s effort to reduce carbon emissions.
With logic like that I suppose you can also go outside, see that is isn’t raining and pontificate that it will never rain again in our lifetime.
It was an almost comical presentation in Congress, if not for the fact that Sen. Inhofe is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Oh dear! I wonder what he thinks about the moon landings? Never mind; I don’t want to know.
But while individuals like the senator are having a hard time grasping the concept that human-created pollution is leading to adverse impacts on the world’s environment, Hispanics appear to have no such problem.
A new survey released last week by the Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. shows that Hispanics (70 percent) and blacks (56 percent) are more likely to believe humans have warmed the planet than whites (44 percent).
If Pew had conducted the poll in the neighborhood of Sen. Inhofe and his colleagues in Congress, belief in climate change would have been lucky to get out of the single-digit level.
The Pew analysis also found that Hispanics and blacks believe that the U.S. should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.
“Recent surveys from other organizations have had similar results. Democrats, the party most Hispanics identify with, have been pushing for more government action on issues such as climate change,” Jens Manuel Krogstad wrote in Pew’s FACTANK blog.
“So why do Hispanics (and, to some extent, blacks) stand out? One possibility might lie in the age of the Hispanic population. With a median age of 27 years, Hispanics are significantly younger than whites (42), blacks (33) and the nation as a whole (37). Overall, younger Americans are more likely than older Americans to say the Earth is warming because of human activity,” Krogstad stated.
A recent New York Times survey found that more than half (54 percent) of Hispanics said global warming is an extremely or very important issue to them personally, compared with 37 percent of whites. That was in line with another survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that also found high concern among Hispanics over global warming.
It seems the Hispanic community has a lot to ponder as we approach Earth Day (April 22) later this spring.
One thing is for sure, we probably won’t be going outside to the beach in Oxnard and looking for a snowball to prove our point that climate change is a fairytale. We will leave that to the Washington, D.C. crowd.
Speaking of the environment, the Latinologues / Rick Najera series at Oxnard College will make a strong connection between the upcoming César Chávez Day celebration and the labor leader’s contributions to the worldwide green movement during a program from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 at the Oxnard College Performing Arts Center, 4000 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard. The event includes the short documentary “Going Green: Cesar Chavez.” Visit http://www.oxnardcollege.edu/academic/departments/oxnard-college-arts or send an email to OCILPA@vcccd.edu for more information.
— Frank X. Moraga is editor/publisher of Amigos805. He has served as business editor, director of diversity and general manager of a bilingual publication at the Ventura County Star, and as a reporter in the community editions of the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Daily News.