Elizabeth Kolbert's Field Notes From A Catastrophe

The human race has taken the planet under our control, but now we must keep the peace with the environment on which we so heavily depend--this is a crucial part of Elizabeth Kolbert’s main argument in her book Field Notes from a Catastrophe. However, while scientific evidence, climate models, and visible effects of global warming all work together in presenting a sound case for political action to be taken against further warming, there is a noticeable lack of actual policy-making. Kolbert points out that both the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration failed to treat global warming as a political issue of top priority. Similarly, Fred Powledge highlights in his article “Scientists, Policymakers, and a Climate of Uncertainty” that current government officials continue to publicly question the validity of scientific evidence that proves human activity has directly affected the progression of climate change and actively cease to support legislation that works to mitigate further warming. While the majority of scientists agree that global warming is escalating at an unprecedented rate due to human activity, both Kolbert and Powledge agree that many politicians have yet to treat climate change as a serious issue that demands immediate action, and point out that some refuse to admit that it is even an

Bush made CO2 emission levels and climate change a talking point in many of his speeches. Bush assured the public that he was invested in enhancing the state of environmental affairs, and stated that, if elected, he would implement regulations that would reduce CO2 emissions. However, after he was elected, Bush changed his position. Kolbert writes, “Explaining his reversal, Bush asserted that he no longer thought CO2 limits were justified, owing to the ‘state of scientific knowledge of the causes of, and solutions to global climate change,’ which he labeled ‘incomplete’”