When we see pictures of Antarctica losing ice, we are shown pictures from the Antarctic Peninsula. Along the Antarctic Peninsula temperatures have increased, and the ice pack has, indeed, decreased. But the peninsula is one small part of the Antarctic continent. Multiple studies, such as one led by Dr. Curt Davis of the University of Missouri-Columbia and another led by Dr. Duncan Wingham of the University College London, show that when the rest of the continent is examined, it appears that Antarctica as a whole is gaining ice, not losing it.

The report also concludes that increasing greenhouse gas emissions "will likely result" in reduced snowpack and threat of drought. This is a curious finding since the report also states that "clear and robust long-term snowpack trends have yet to emerge in Utah's mountains." In other words, there are no actual data showing decreasing snowpack or precipitation, but the report assumes there will be. The truth is that computer models are not good enough to predict if the future holds more or less snowfall or more or less drought.

To make good policy we need good information, but the Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council's report provides neither. To assume something without evidence is not science, it is conjecture.

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Daniel R. Simmons is the director of the Natural Resources Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council in Washington, D.C.