Global warming is a topic that has routinely been swept under the rug.

It is a hard to face the fact that we are destroying the world we live in. Perhaps it is just easier to bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything will turn out for the better.

That is a foolhardy course of action for us to take as a species because the warning signs are far too obvious.

The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) is a lobbying group with the sole purpose of giving a voice to corporations that want to avoid the responsibility of reducing greenhouse emissions.

According to GCC’s Web site, there is a perfectly natural cause for greenhouse gasses.

They seek solutions which are as good for the environment as they are for business.

Many of their claims fly in the face of reason. According to the GCC, the industrial age is not as responsible for greenhouse gasses as water vapor.

The fact that global warming is being studied by scientists at universities around the world should be a wake up call.

What is more startling than the GCC’s attempts to act on the behalf of big business is Iowa State’s investment in companies that are members of the GCC.

Perhaps this is just some kind of oversight. When you hand your money over to some accountant who could care less about what’s in your portfolio, you’re bound to invest in anything.

ISU needs to join the ranks of responsible universities that refuse to support the blatant attempts of the GCC to undermine research into global warming.

We have researchers on our very own campus studying this problem.

Why then are we supporting companies whose interests are in direct conflict with our own?

The voices of the concerned aren’t just “crazy lefties” making unsubstantiated claims about environmental issues they gleaned from watching Charlton Heston movies. These are scientists whose only vested interest in global warming is finding a solution.

If that solution is bad for business, then so be it. Because there is something worse for big business than scaling back on the usage of fossil fuels, and that is living and doing business in a world decimated by drastic climate changes — all because of avarice.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas and Carrie Tett.