We could have used a bit of "global warming" around here today: snow,sleet, freezing rain, more snow on top of that. A salt truck knocked down an electrical line, and we lost power for an hour or two.
No biggie: just your typical February day in the Northeast - but , according to Al Gore and The Church of Anthropogenic (Human Caused) Climate Change , it is further evidence we (American sinners) are all doomed,doomed, doomed !
As you can see, I have some reservations about "The Church" and its teachings. I believe some of what is being "preached" is based upon "template science" ; ie: research conducted to produce desired results. Having said this, let me qualify my remarks.
My sole relationship with the Petroleum Industry is as follows: They send me a bill every month for the gasoline and oil I put into Gladys,our adopted Honda. (She followed us home from the dealership,so we decided to keep her.)
I am not a gap-toothed, ignorant , drooling redneck. I must confess to having listened to Bluegrass music from time to time, and to occasional picking on guitar, mandolin, etc. in the past-but I like Classical music too ...and have a keen, continuing interest in science.
I am not an Evil Neo-Con. In point of fact, I've probably voted for Democrats a whole lot more than I've voted Republican. If I had to describe myself, I'd say I'm a "Commonsense - itarian".
I mention all these things because it is currently the fashion to launch a no-holds-barred personal attack upon anyone who questions the dogmatically presented opinions of The Church of Anthropogenic Climate Change.
The notion that Humans are responsible for most Global Warming is still just that: a notion. In scientific terms, it is a Hypothesis - for which there is insufficient evidence to elevate it to the status of Theory ...and definitely nowhere near enough evidence to advance it to the status of a Scientific Truth ; but "The Church" insists on calling it a "proven fact" , and tries to punish anyone in the scientific community who disputes them.
An example of how "The Church" acts is shown here.
The curious career of one of this cult's prime architects-Maurice Strong- was explored by researchers at Fox News (which the cult's devotees refer to as "Faux News" - especially when their reporters hit the nail on the head - as they did in the "Oil for Food" scandal.)
Having told you in advance what some of the response to this entry will consist of, let me throw a few concepts on the table.
1. The earth is warming - much as it has warmed (and cooled) many times before. Most of this warming , I think is due to conventional forces : solar activity, oscillations in the earth's orbit,volcanic activity (especially in the Pacific),methane output from the planet's animal life, etc.
2. Most of this warming is exactly what one might expect as the planet came to the end of a cooling cycle. How cold has it been in the past ? Well ,following the Blizzard of 1888, it was possible to travel on ice skates - across the coastal waters - between Boston and New York City. In fact, many people did so.
3. The original "template" for much of our now revered "climate science" was a perceived "need" to slow down the United States by reducing its ability to compete with the European Union. (The Fox article suggests China may have been the originator, but I'm more inclined to think they merely jumped aboard an EU concept.)
4. When then-President Bill Clinton signed on to the Kyoto accords , I'm reasonably sure he knew perfectly well Congress would not approve it - but it made a marvelous "worry weight" !
( In table shuffleboard, an astute player will sometimes protect his high value weights from being knocked off the board by shooting a weight about halfway up the board: thus forcing the opponent to shoot around it. )
A. If Al Gore won the 2000 election , he could ignore the Kyoto worry weight ...or use it as leverage to extract large donations from corporations opposed to it. Few would criticize him in either event.
B. If Gore lost , then the winner - Bush - could be (and was ) hammered incessantly for "failure to follow through on Kyoto".
5. Most of the flak about global warming comes from the EU (and is parroted here). It is worth noting the EU , which preaches to us about Global Warming , has never met its own Kyoto Accord goals , and has exaggerated and lied about its own achievements. Germany, for example, has the largest number of highways in Europe, but does not count auto emissions when it discusses greenhouse gas production. Spain meets its goals by "purchasing credits" in other countries - as does China (which happens to be the biggest polluter on the planet).
(Credits are purchased by buying pollution control equipment, and shipping it to "Third World" countries, which, for the most part, don't even take it out of the shipping cartons.)
6. Ironically the one country cast as the villain of the Global Warming drama has met and exceeded the originally proposed Kyoto "goals" year after year, without fuss and fanfare. That country-as you may have guessed- is the United States of America.
ps: Be careful who you share that last tidbit with ! The Church of Anthropogenic Climate Change hates it when anyone says this like that !!
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