In Commencement Speech, Obama Unloads on Climate Change 'Deniers'

Giving the commencement address at the University of California at Irvine on Saturday, President Obama openly mocked the climate science and policy positions of many Republican lawmakers, without naming any names.

This was the first time that Obama had launched such a frontal assault on those who are trying to stymie his efforts to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming, such as carbon dioxide.

On June 2, the Obama administration introduced draft regulations to reign in emissions from existing power plants in the U.S. by 30% below 2005 levels by the year 2020. Many Republicans denounced these
proposed rules as a "War on Coal," and argued against them on scientific grounds as well.

In a June 9 interview that aired on Showtime, Obama said he was tempted to call out congressional skeptics of climate science for being out of touch with the scientific community, and for ducking their responsibility to help solve a difficult but crucial problem.

Apparently, that temptation proved to be a strong one.

At UC Irvine, Obama told the graduates that what he is up against on domestic climate policy is unique, because his opponents in Congress deny the very existence of the problem itself. "The climate change deniers suggest there’s still a debate over the science," he said. "There is not." The president continued:

It’s pretty rare that you’ll encounter somebody who says the problem you’re trying to solve simply doesn’t exist. When President Kennedy set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wouldn’t be worth it; it was going to be too expensive, it was going to be too hard, it would take too long. But nobody ignored the science. I don’t remember anybody saying that the moon wasn’t there or that it was made of cheese.
Today’s Congress, though, is full of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject the scientific evidence about climate change. They will tell you it is a hoax, or a fad. One member of Congress actually says the world is cooling. There was one member of Congress who mentioned a theory involving “dinosaur flatulence” — which I won’t get into.

 Obama attacked lawmakers who openly deny the findings of mainstream climate science, as well as those who have recently sought to duck climate questions by saying that they're not scientists, and therefore not qualified to make a judgement.

Prominent politicians who have employed this tactic recently include House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida).

"There are some who also duck the question," Obama said. "They say — when they’re asked about climate change, they say, “Hey, look, I’m not a scientist.” And I’ll translate that for you. What that really means is, 'I know that manmade climate change really is happening, but if I admit it, I’ll be run out of town by a radical fringe that thinks climate science is a liberal plot, so I’m not going to admit it.'”

"Now, I’m not a scientist either, but we’ve got some really good ones at NASA. I do know that the overwhelming majority of scientists who work on climate change, including some who once disputed the data, have put that debate to rest," Obama said.

Obama didn't aim his criticism solely at Congress. He also said the media has not spent enough time covering global warming, noting that when major newscasts broadcast segments on the topic they often have political talking heads involved, rather than scientists.

"When we introduced those new anti-pollution standards a couple weeks ago, the instant reaction from the Washington’s political press wasn’t about what it would mean for our planet; it was what would it mean for an election six months from now," Obama said.

The speech wasn't entirely a downer. Obama announced the creation of a $1 billion climate change resiliency initiative to provide grants to cities and states in order to harden infrastructure against the threat of more extreme storms and floods, among other climate change-related consequences.

The money would come from existing funds in the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget.