Obama slams climate sceptics

2010-02-20 10:31

Henderson - US President Barack Obama on Friday rebuked climate change sceptics who argue that piles of snow dumped on the US during a frigid winter cast doubt on global warming science.

"We just got five feet of snow in Washington," said Obama, when asked about alternative energy projects during a town hall meeting in Nevada.

"Opponents of climate change, they say - 'See look at that, there is all this snow on the ground - this doesn't mean anything.'"

"I want to just be clear that the science of climate change doesn't mean every place is getting warmer - it means the planet as a whole is getting warmer."

Obama cited the lack of snow in Vancouver during the current winter Olympics and unusual snowstorms in places like Dallas in the southern US as examples of violent weather patterns brought on by climate change.

The president has committed the US wholeheartedly to the fight against climate change - unlike the previous Bush administration - and played a major role in the ill-fated UN climate conference in Denmark in 2009.

But there is growing doubt over the fate of legislation being pushed by Democrats in Congress aimed at establishing a cap-and-trade system to regulate carbon emissions.

Republicans have branded such legislation "job killing" and even some Democratic lawmakers have questioned the wisdom of passing such a bill that could impose more costs on industry during a deep economic crisis.

- AFP

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