SALT LAKE CITY -- Feeling warm?
A former NASA scientist and a University of Utah professor agree that Utah in the last century has been hotter than normal.
But where the scientists disagreed Wednesday at a statehouse hearing is whether global warming is caused by humans or by Mother Nature.
"I think the gap between the scientists is less than some perceive," said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-North Ogden, who sits on the committee.
Wilcox and others listened in the Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee to the scientists' presentation on the earth's warming trend.
It's a hot-button topic for some in Utah government, particularly after Gov. Gary Herbert aired his doubt on the causes of global warming.
"There is very high confidence in the science community that human-generated increases in greenhouse gasses are responsible for most of the global warming in the last 50 years," said Jim Steenburgh, chairman of the U of U Atmospheric Sciences Department.
Steenburgh offered to lawmakers the updated work of a special committee that first presented its findings to then-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
"It is very unlikely that this warming is solely caused by natural processes," Steenburgh said.
Offering a divergent view was Roy Spencer, a former senior climate scientist for the NASA Marshall Space Center in Huntsville Ala.
"Why do so many climate scientists believe that global warming is our fault?" said Spencer, now doing research at the University of Alabama.
"The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actively ignored the possibility that natural climate cycles are responsible for most climate change, in spite of evidence suggesting that this, in fact, may be the case," said Spencer, pointing to what he believes is flawed science modeling to describe decreasing cloud cover.
The committee also invited Nucor Steel General Manager Dave Smith to talk separately about changes in environmental policy that affect the steel industry.
"The problem is an unlevel playing field," said Smith, vice president for the company that has five Utah locations, including two in Brigham City.
Smith said efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses worldwide might help the environment but gives an advantage to steel producing countries, like China, with less stringent pollution policies.
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Wilcox admits the climate change debate is difficult to clearly put into a local context as he looks to state issues that cross his desk.
But he says he must weigh the issues and the benefits to changing the way state government handles pollution -- all as some lawmakers wonder whether Utah will continue to get warmer.
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