Climate Change and Ag

In case you're wondering, there are climate change skeptics on the Otsego County Board of Representatives. I'm on the Solid Waste and Environmental Concerns Committee (SWEC) and at its March meeting this week we had a lively discussion about whether climate change was real. It was two against two, with two members reserving judgment. I was told that climate change was something I “believed,” not something that was “settled science.”

I find those conversations taxing and unproductive. This is too important to fritter away our time with people who have found some reason to ignore science.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. On Wednesday, March 30, at the Farmer's Museum, Dr. Robert L. Thompson will be speaking on “ClimateChange and Agriculture.” He is an actual scientist, an actual expert. Agriculture is Otsego County's biggest industry. If you, like many of the Board of Reps, are still conflicted about whether climate change is real, or if you just want to come out and learn something new, join us.