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The Associated Press has thrown cold water on an increasingly popular Democratic talking point: That the earth has just 12 years to stave off climate doomsday.

“There is no scientific consensus, much less unanimity, that the planet only has 12 years to fix the problem,” said the AP in a Monday fact-check.

The wire service weighed in after former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke made the 12-year claim as he kicked off his run for the Democratic presidential nomination last week in Keokuk, Iowa.

“This is our final chance. The scientists are absolutely unanimous on this. That we have no more than 12 years to take incredibly bold action on this crisis,” Mr. O’Rourke said.

He isn’t the first high-profile Democrat warning of disaster by 2030. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, made the 12-year claim at a Jan. 21 event marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day at which she called climate change “our World War II.”

“I think that the part of it that is generational is that millennials and Gen-Z and all these folks that come after us are looking up and we’re like, ‘The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change,’ and your biggest issue is–your biggest issue is, ‘How are we going to pay for it?’” said Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

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He [Ed Markey] cited findings by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but the AP fact-check said the panel “uses 2030 as a prominent benchmark because signatories to the Paris agreement have pledged emission cuts by then.”

“But it’s not a last chance, hard deadline for action, as it has been interpreted in some quarters,” said the AP.

“For some reason the media latched onto the 12 years (2030), presumably because they thought that it helped to get across the message of how quickly we are approaching this and hence how urgently we need action,” said Ms. Dutton. “Unfortunately, this has led to a complete mischaracterization of what the report said.”

Axios issued a similar debunking Jan. 22, after Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks, quoting four climate scientists, including University of Florida researcher Andrea Dutton.

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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201...-has-only-12-y/

Gee, "For some reason the media latched onto the 12 years". I wonder what that reason could be. As for O'Rourke he's now back pedaling, claiming he really said we have only 12 years to aggressively address Climate Change. Perhaps, but here's what he claimed:

“This is the final chance,” the failed Senate candidate from Texas advised. “The scientists are absolutely unanimous on this — that we have no more than 12 years to take incredibly bold action on this crisis. My gratitude to them for the young people who stepped up to offer such a bold proposal to meet such a grave challenge.”

He concluded, ‘”Not to be melodramatic, but the future of the world depends on us right now here where we are. So, yes, let’s find a way to do this.”

And look at who exposed his hyperbole: AP! Is there hope yet?