'Waiting 30 years to measure the earth's temperature and weather patterns' is hardly a controlled experiment. You have exogenous variables (volcanic activity, s

'Waiting 30 years to measure the earth's temperature and weather patterns' is hardly a controlled experiment. You have exogenous variables (volcanic activity, sun activity, the earth's normal variations in temperature) and for how many years would you propose to measure this activity--you'd need a statistically significant sample. Why? Because the earth's weather patterns can fluctuate--i.e. you could have a year with severe weather with or without climate change. To the best of my knowledge, a better scientific experiment would be having ~30 earths with 1 climate policy, ~30 earths with another climate policy, and yet another control group. There's a big difference between saying "we scientifically know emitting pollutants into the atmosphere has certain unintended/undesirable consequences, and we're uncertain of the harm so we should stop," and "we know global warming will create extreme weather patterns that will destroy the world's economy and kill billions of people"--I have heard people tell me of these doomsday scenarios, even here on HN. Politics always exist to serve self-interests. Ask yourself whose are served by this movement.