Climate change is frequently referred to as a hot-button issue. It’s a “platform” issue, with political parties taking definite stands on either side.  Both parties are guilty of misrepresenting information and not always backing up the research that feeds policies. As much as I admire Al Gore, I have wondered if his championing of the cause has hurt its progress, especially on a grassroots level. An issue that affects the whole globe should have the potential to bring people together. Political figures are polarizing, but the two parties are not the only groups responsible for this division.

The media certainly has a role in dividing people. It is no secret that certain networks cater to certain belief systems. However, there comes a point at which this manipulation becomes dangerous. I have been appalled by some of the coverage I have seen in which facts are blatantly disregarded in favor of keeping up ratings.

The concept of climate change is unsettling. Many people would rather believe that it’s not happening, or that humans have nothing to do with it, and it is easy to ignore a problem when its worst case scenarios are projected to occur long after we are gone.  However, the largest reason for the divide is due to yet another divide: the gap between what scientists believe and what the public believes.

A recent study commissioned by the Pew Research group revealed that on many major issues, the majority of the scientific community and the majority of Americans disagree completely about what is fact or fiction. Though many Americans don’t agree with scientists, at least two thirds of the public holds scientists and engineers in “high regard” and more than 80 percent say that science has positively affected the country.

If this is true, why don’t we overwhelmingly accept the concepts that the scientific community does? According to the survey, two thirds of Americans believe that there is currently “lively debate” among scientists about whether or not climate change exists. There is no such debate taking place in the scientific community. Eighty-four percent of scientists believe that humans are contributing to climate change, while only 49 percent of the public accepts it.

Scientists are concerned about this divide, establishing that they do not think that the media does a very good job of educating us about what is fact and what is not. Considering that this is how so many of us get our information, we should care about it too.

The latest anti-climate change campaign mixes fact and fiction. Alan Carlin has been thrust into the national spotlight as the rogue EPA scientist who has been silenced about the “truth” about climate change.  He is being used to push the idea that climate change does not exist—just as the largest piece of legislation ever devoted to issue is up for a vote in the Senate. It should be noted that while Carlin has been an employee of the EPA’s for more than 30 years, he made his career as an economist. His job is not to make certain the science behind policy is true; his job is to analyze the economic implications of policy once it is written.

EPA officials admit that they were confused as to why Carlin even submitted a report of this nature, as he is not qualified to make recommendations in the area. He was not silenced; he was asked to use the time taxpayers were paying him for to work on projects in which he could add value. That’s a big distinction.

Carlin believes that there is data that conflicts with data confirming climate change, but what he is really concerned about got less attention.  It is painful to watch Carlin on network news shows in which inflammatory lines about polar bears and UN are tossed around. He is visibly uncomfortable as his research is manipulated to prove whatever point the host is trying to make. What Carlin was trying to educate Americans about is the fact that EPA has not been consistently given updated research about climate change during the past three years. Our federal government should be double- and triple-checking research with internal employees before making recommendations. But this valid point was not the one the American public heard.

We should demand better. We deserve to be a well-informed nation that can discuss issues with a solid background in what created them. Climate change should be an issue that unites, not divides, us. As a nation, we have been presented challenges in the past, and we have always risen to the occasion, working together, helping our neighbors, with every American doing his or her part.

Climate change isn’t about whom you voted for or what news station you watch—it’s about the future of this country and this planet. It’s about changing our lifestyles for human beings we will never meet, because it’s the right thing to do. It’s about reaching for new technologies now to provide for our grandchildren later. It’s about embracing the best in ourselves to bring out the best in our country.