There are precious few voices in the U.S. capital these days that are speaking the truth about climate change. Which is what makes Senator John Kerry's speech on the Senate floor today so powerful, and so necessary.
In his speech, which clocked in at nearly 55 minutes, Senator Kerry attacked a "calculated campaign of disinformation" that, he says, "has steadily beaten back the consensus momentum for action on climate change and replaced it with timidity by proponents in the face of millions of dollars of phony, contrived ‘talking points,’ illogical and wholly unscientific propositions and a general scorn for the truth wrapped in false threats about job loss and tax increase.”
The senator from Massachusetts' words were clearly timed to inject some energy into the Rio+20 meetings of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which begin in earnest tomorrow and which are struggling to stay relevant during a time when Europe is barely functioning and the U.S. is moving into election season. President Obama's decision not to attend the meetings has many diplomats and activists gathering in Brazil questioning the American committment to climate change and the great global environmental challenges.
Senator Kerry didn't mince words in his talk, calling out the "disgraceful" campaign of climate denial as the "conspiracy" that it is, and also placing some blame on the media for its reluctance or inability to bring reason and truth to the climate conversation.
