Does it really matter if global warming is the result of human activity?
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Streamer asked:
I will readily admit that human induced global warming is a very vulnerable theory. The periods of time used to measure the phenomenom (centuries) are statistically insignficant when compared to the age of our planet. After reading a bunch of scientific literature on both sides, I tend to think that we are responsible and if we don’t make an effort to curb our emissions there is a risk that things will take a turn for the worse…maybe I won’t see it in my life time…but my daughter might…or maybe her children. But then again…does it really matter? What’s the downside to reducing our CO2 emmissions? Most critics will tell you that it could spell economic disaster for the US. Talk about a “chicken little” reaction. The US economy overcame the effects of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act. CRCLA, TOSCA, RCRA etc…why do republicans have such little faith in our ability to weather CO2 emmission control? Bottom line, the biggest threat to the US economy is China and India. And let’s face it, our economic strength lies in our innovation and not necessarily in duplication (read production)…so let’s innovate CO2 control and alternative energy…in every way imaginable…and sell it to the rest of the world. Here’s a fact….oil is finite and one day alternative energy just becomes plain old… energy. Wake up people…this is not a potential drag on the US economy….but one of our greatest opportunities. So many of the republicans on this issue are eager to mention terrorism as more worthy of our national attention and resources. We all know how terrorism is funded…I think about it every time I go to pump….so any theory…no matter how far fetched or unlikely or unprovable…that is going to support the development of alternative energy is…at the end day…a net benefit. In my mind the middle east suffers from a serious case of relevancy…let’s change that ASAP. For those of you republicans that might have a problem with pursuing policy using “chicken little” tactics…don’t forget about the WMDs you so readily sold…poor Colin Powell…forced to construct a house of cards (card by miserable card) in front of the UN…talk about getting sold out. But wait…I’m a democrat and I’m glad we went to Iraq…and I don’t think we should leave any time soon? Why? Because look at the effect…we created a theater of conflict far form home…and let me tell you…it’s much easier for an angry syrian to sneak over the Iraqi border under the cover of night then it is for the same syrian to get a visa, a plane ticket to the US and a terrorist cell taking applications. (There’s also the issue of moral responsibility…you can’t go to some other county…turn it on it’s head…and leave) So all of you angry republicans…shut up about global warming…take a minute and think it through…I mean all the way through. You sound silly when you say “there’s no way of proving it”….of course we can’t prove it…that will take a few million years….but disproving it is equally impossible. And the silly links you send around…created by pundits for pundits…stop already. “The growing momentum of dissenters”…so stupid I can’t take it. So maybe it’s not true…so what. What’s the downside? God forbid we teach our children a little stewardship…it might not be global warming…but there’s one thing I can guarantee…unless we change our current frontier attitude towards our natural resources we will eventually ***** up our planet. Finally…what if it’s true…what if in 30 years we have really screwed things up? Have fun explaining/stammering to your grandkids about how “we needed definitive proof” and I suggest you hide the old photos of you in the Hummer.
LIONEL
I will readily admit that human induced global warming is a very vulnerable theory. The periods of time used to measure the phenomenom (centuries) are statistically insignficant when compared to the age of our planet. After reading a bunch of scientific literature on both sides, I tend to think that we are responsible and if we don’t make an effort to curb our emissions there is a risk that things will take a turn for the worse…maybe I won’t see it in my life time…but my daughter might…or maybe her children. But then again…does it really matter? What’s the downside to reducing our CO2 emmissions? Most critics will tell you that it could spell economic disaster for the US. Talk about a “chicken little” reaction. The US economy overcame the effects of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act. CRCLA, TOSCA, RCRA etc…why do republicans have such little faith in our ability to weather CO2 emmission control? Bottom line, the biggest threat to the US economy is China and India. And let’s face it, our economic strength lies in our innovation and not necessarily in duplication (read production)…so let’s innovate CO2 control and alternative energy…in every way imaginable…and sell it to the rest of the world. Here’s a fact….oil is finite and one day alternative energy just becomes plain old… energy. Wake up people…this is not a potential drag on the US economy….but one of our greatest opportunities. So many of the republicans on this issue are eager to mention terrorism as more worthy of our national attention and resources. We all know how terrorism is funded…I think about it every time I go to pump….so any theory…no matter how far fetched or unlikely or unprovable…that is going to support the development of alternative energy is…at the end day…a net benefit. In my mind the middle east suffers from a serious case of relevancy…let’s change that ASAP. For those of you republicans that might have a problem with pursuing policy using “chicken little” tactics…don’t forget about the WMDs you so readily sold…poor Colin Powell…forced to construct a house of cards (card by miserable card) in front of the UN…talk about getting sold out. But wait…I’m a democrat and I’m glad we went to Iraq…and I don’t think we should leave any time soon? Why? Because look at the effect…we created a theater of conflict far form home…and let me tell you…it’s much easier for an angry syrian to sneak over the Iraqi border under the cover of night then it is for the same syrian to get a visa, a plane ticket to the US and a terrorist cell taking applications. (There’s also the issue of moral responsibility…you can’t go to some other county…turn it on it’s head…and leave) So all of you angry republicans…shut up about global warming…take a minute and think it through…I mean all the way through. You sound silly when you say “there’s no way of proving it”….of course we can’t prove it…that will take a few million years….but disproving it is equally impossible. And the silly links you send around…created by pundits for pundits…stop already. “The growing momentum of dissenters”…so stupid I can’t take it. So maybe it’s not true…so what. What’s the downside? God forbid we teach our children a little stewardship…it might not be global warming…but there’s one thing I can guarantee…unless we change our current frontier attitude towards our natural resources we will eventually ***** up our planet. Finally…what if it’s true…what if in 30 years we have really screwed things up? Have fun explaining/stammering to your grandkids about how “we needed definitive proof” and I suggest you hide the old photos of you in the Hummer.
LIONEL
