This editorial appeared in The Wichita Eagle.
Today's 39th anniversary of Earth Day is marked by increasingly sharp disagreements on old environmental debates, both nationally and in Kansas.
While support for more Earth-friendly policies is growing in government and the public, some opponents of these policies have become more strident.
Consider last week's declaration by the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases pose a threat to human health and the environment. The decision was in the works long before Barack Obama became president and is overwhelmingly supported by U.S. and international climate scientists and by peer-reviewed scientific analysis.
Both Obama and GOP presidential candidate John McCain agreed during last year's campaign that greenhouse gases were a problem that needed mitigation. And even former President George W. Bush thought global warming was a threat and that it was caused, at least in part, by human activity.
Yet House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday that the idea that carbon dioxide is harmful to the environment is "almost comical."
And Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, recently said he thinks climate change is a natural phenomenon.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Wichita Eagle.