the irony is dripping like acid rain off a west virginia roof

Significantly is a funny, funny term and I expect that you know that already. If I were to posit that the global mean sea level were to rise an unbelievable 1m over the next century (and that really is an unbelievable amount), who do you ask if that is significant? In the Bay of Fundy for instance, that would be a substantial rise but hardly significant. On a Pacific atoll however, 1m would be HIGHLY significant. I expect that between thermal expansion and the melting of the permafrost in the higher latitudes, there will be a marked rise in global mean sea level. Do I think it will drown millions of people? No. Will it cause people to move to higher ground? Maybe. See New Orleans and Amsterdam for more info.

I think your second paragraph is where we differ. You believe that it is a "problem" and that there needs to be "action". I believe that we don't know enough at this time to justify absurd "plans". I'm a staunch advocate of fixing the man made problems that we can all point a finger at and say "that has to stop." Should we be cutting the tops off of mountains in West Virginia to make coal mining easier? No, we should stop that. Should we allow long-lining in American territorial waters? Nope, we should stop that too. Should every industrial/agricultural user of fresh water in the US be required to justify their use and return any used water in a cleaner state than they received it? Absolutely. See where I am going here? I'm not arguing global climate change at all. I am stating factually that I do not know and I don't believe anyone knows if man is causing global warming or not. I am suggesting that we fix those problems which we DO know we are causing and allow the science behind global climate change to develop further. I have never suggested that people are doing too much to deal with global warming. What I have stated before is that right now, we are all arguing differing conclusions based on the same set of data/publications. I am of the opinion that those who are most concerned about the environment are arguing based on their FAITH that they are right vs. those who have other primary concerns and have FAITH that they are right. See what I did there? I took your apparent jab at people of faith and showed that even among those in the environmental movement there is faith. Maybe not in a higher power or divine will, but faith nonetheless. From the OED: Faith - Belief proceeding from reliance on testimony or authority. All I ask is that people think for themselves and take no man’s word as the gospel (Ooooh look! I did it too! Well, kinda.).

On the last… I’ll make my response short. I think that there is political pressure placed on scientists. I offer no facts nor anecdotes. I merely state that I think it happens. This is just based on my experiences (and yes, I have written a number of proposals going all the way up to international proposals) nothing more. I don’t ask that you accept it. I laughed and I will stipulate that proposals don’t include conclusions. But if I remember correctly, basically every single proposal I have written includes a section labeled something like “Expected Results.” Depending on the proposal, I normally have to write another section on how I will “deal” with unexpected results.

Toxic West Virginia - Part 2
Toxic West Virginia - Part 3

Not to take away the impact of this video but Senator Byrd is a hypocrite! The Senator from West Virginia is known as the King of Pork. Maybe he figures by shinning a light on the trillions the military wastes that we will be distracted from the billions that he wastes.

http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_byrddroppings_porktally

There are many ways that you may describe the coolest 8 year old, including calling her the willing parrot of an irresponsible parent. "Completely vulnerable" doesn't leap to my mind. The 8 year old would likely kick Billy's ass (and actually tell him that she was "kicking his ass")if he ever deigned to invite her to his monologue.

And the guest. So alarmist. And those eyebrows! The child 'expert' obviously has never come in contact with the dirty-faced and mean feral children of West Virginia.