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BILL NYE SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE THE CRISIS OF THIS GENERATION 

In Bill Nye’s commencement speech at Rutgers University, he declared climate change “the most serious environmental crisis in human history.” Which, considering most environmental crises predate the written record, may not be the most potent qualifier. But anyway, it’s getting serious out there, kids.

Nye challenged students to take action to avert the disaster — indeed, to rise to the occasion as the generation of Americans during World War II rose to address those crises. He finished with his condolences: “If you know any climate deniers, I’m sorry.”

MARCO RUBIO SAYS ‘NUH UH’ 

Meanwhile, Florida Senator Marco Rubio told Face the Nation that scientists can’t say for sure what impact cap and trade would have on climate change, “But I can tell you with certainty it would have a devastating impact on our economy.”

Online fact-checker Politifact looked into the claim and found that predictions about the effects of cap and trade on both the environment and the economy are uncertain. It depends on the policy. In cap-and-trade, government sets pollution limits and companies either pay for technology to limit their pollution or trade.

California, New England and Europe and their economies have all seemed to survive cap and trade programs, and a program in the Northeast has lowered emissions by 40 percent since 2005, Politifact found. Cap-and-trade programs have also created jobs and saved billions in energy bills. Some economic studies found there could be slower economic growth with some cap-and-trade policies — slower by 0.3 percent.

Devastating. 

Politifact rated the claim false. 

Oh yeah, and this guy’s running for president. 

DON’T LOOK AT US!

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved a 2016 spending bill that would rearrange NASA’s budget, giving the organization more money to search for life on other planets and the moon, but cut funding for the study of our own planet. We’re guessing that video NASA released this year that showed, in bright, glowing red, the flux of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had a little something to do with Republican Representatives wishing NASA would find something to do with their time other than compile evidence that climate change is, you know, real and happening right now.

The cuts aren’t entirely specific but would eliminate the replacement spacecraft for the Landsat 7, the satellite that sends back photos of the Earth’s surface.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden pointed out that those images are presently being used to direct rescue efforts in Nepal; would send millions of dollars to Russia each year to pay for access to what they have that our space programs lack; and shortchange the project to send American astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.

“Meanwhile, NASA has an amaz ing fleet of Earth observation satellites, many in partnership with other nations, and they help us predict and respond to disaster as well as understand climate change and many other aspects of our living planet’s processes,” Bolden’s statement continues. “Yet the House proposal would seriously reduce our Earth Science program and threaten to set back generations worth of progress in better understanding our changing climate, and our ability to prepare for and respond to earthquakes, droughts and storm events.

“With the incredible progress we’ve been making — from Earth Science to Orion to the Space Launch System to the work being done on the International Space Station — now is not the time to hit the rewind button or to press pause. It’s time to fast forward into greater prosperity and job creation as America expands humanity’s reach into space, while strengthening our leadership here on Earth.”