8th-Graders to School GOP Lawmakers on Climate Change

AlterNet
and
 Michael Arria
March 10, 2015

According to a poll of 1,002 eighth-grade students, conducted on behalf of the activist group Avaaz, 90% of them believe climate-change is a man-made crisis. Now Avaaz is bringing together a number of these students, from various states, to meet with climate-denying members of the Senate-including Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.

Last year, the Senate voted to reject an amendment, sponsored by Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, that declared, "climate change is real and human activity significantly contributes to climate change." Only four Republicans voted in favor of it, however, a recent amendment to the Keystone Pipeline bill, which stated global warming isn't a hoax, was supported by all Republicans besides Mississippi's Roger Wicker. 

The difference between the amendments was the acknowledgment that global warming is impacted by humans, so while Republicans might believe the world is getting warmer, they still don't believe this thawing has anything to do with mankind. According to a Miami Herald story, by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, Florida's Republican Governor, Rick Scott, banned the terms "global warming" and "climate change" from all state communications and publications after he took office in 2011.

The eighth-graders plan on asking GOP politicians to take an elementary school quiz on climate change science.

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