Clinton and McCain Head to Alaska

Posted on August 19, 2005

It looks like you're going to be hearing more about global warming between now and 2008. Several U.S. senators headed off to Alaska on a fact-finding mission and were pretty shocked by what they found.

Anyone doubting the effects of human activity on global climate change should talk to the people it affects in Alaska and the Yukon, U.S. Sen. John McCain said Wednesday. Fresh from a trip to Barrow, America's northernmost city, McCain said anecdotes from Alaskans and residents of the Yukon Territory confirm scientific evidence of global warming.
"We are convinced that the overwhelming scientific evidence indicated that climate change is taking place and human activities play a very large role," McCain said.
McCain, accompanied by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., spoke to villagers in Canada whose spruce trees are being attacked by the northward spread of spruce beetles. On Alaska's northern coast, they met Native Alaskans dealing with melting permafrost and coastal erosion.
"I don't think there is any doubt left for anyone who actually looks at the science," Clinton said. "There are still some holdouts, but they are fighting a losing battle. The science is overwhelming, but what is deeply concerning is that climate change is accelerating."
Graham, who declared himself "on the fence" about climate change legislation, said an academic debate about global warming is different in the North. "If you can go to the Native people and listen to their stories and walk away with any doubt that something's going on, I just think you're not listening," he said.

Polls consistently show that Americans aren't happy about all the pollution in the air and toxins in the water. This could play big in upcoming elections: Hillary Clinton and John McCain together talking about global warming is definitely an eye-opener. Even Lindsay Graham is almost convinced that global warming is real after talking to the Inuits. Apparently, miracles do happen occasionally.