Denying climate change is ‘kind of nuts,’ McCarthy tells scientists
Source: By Weldon Johnson, Arizona Republic • Posted: Friday, January 9, 2015
U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, addressing a group of scientists in Phoenix yesterday, said it is crucial that researchers keep explaining to the public that climate change is real.
“Science is under attack like it has never been before,” McCarthy said. “Now is not the time for us to hide or to begin to be more quiet. It’s the time for us to embrace this challenge.”
She added, “I can remember how the world was when I was a child. If you don’t think it’s changed, you’re kind of nuts.”
McCarthy, who addressed the 95th annual conference of the American Meteorological Society, said the fight against climate change should be seen as an economic opportunity because it provides a reason to invest in new technologies.
“We need to move in a way that’s not based on fear, but opportunity,” McCarthy said. “That’s the way you engage people when change is happening, or else they’ll hunker down and do what many are doing now, denying it”.