Secretary of State John Kerry lashed out at climate science deniers during a speech Thursday to the Atlantic Council, comparing anthropogenic climate change to universally accepted laws of physics and saying that it's "just plain immoral" to not face "reality."
"It's a risk that no one should take," Kerry said. "There is no planet B."
The speech was given as part of the Atlantic Council's Road to Paris series, leading up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, where each individual country is expected to commit to a domestic plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Think Progress.
Kerry went on to compare climate science to basic laws of physics like the law of gravity.
"When an apple falls from a tree, it will drop toward the ground. We know that because of the basic laws of physics," he said. "Science tells us that gravity exists, and no one disputes that."
"So when science tells us that our climate is changing and humans beings are largely causing that change, by what right do people stand up and just say, 'Well, I dispute that' or 'I deny that elementary truth?'"
Kerry pointed to recent reports claiming that Florida state officials had banned the use of the term "climate change," an accusation denied by Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
"Literally a couple of days ago, I read about some state officials who are actually trying to ban the use of the term 'climate change' in public documents because they're not willing to face the facts," Kerry said.
Revisiting previously made claims, Kerry stressed that the threat of climate change is just as serious as other current global threats.
"Terrorism, extremism, epidemics, poverty, nuclear proliferation, all challenges that respect no borders - climate change belongs on that very same list," he said. "It is, indeed, one of the biggest threats facing our planet today."
The most recent analysis of Congress' views on climate science found that 53 percent - 131 members - of Republicans in the House deny or question the science behind human-caused climate change and 70 percent - 38 members - in the Senate hold the same view, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
NASA reports that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that global warming trends are "very likely due to human activities."
