Keep climate debate open

Recently, many in the political community have compared opponents of global warming to members of “the Flat Earth Society.” Galen Goertzen (March 2) agrees with President Obama that “the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact.”

The fact is, until the time of Aristotle (330 B.C.), it was unanimously agreed in the scientific community that the Earth was flat. However, as a result of open-minded debate, the majority of scientists now agree that the Earth is a sphere. Had the debate been “settled,” Americans might still be Europeans.

The existence of climate change has never been debated, but the theory of man-caused global warming should still be open to debate, as there is as much data to refute it as there is to support it.

If, as Goertzen claims, “the scientific community is in near unanimous agreement” on global warming theory, then I would theorize that the supporters of that theory are more analogous to the flat-Earthers than are the dissenters. However, I am still open to debate on the subject.

Don Hood

Spokane Valley