Discuss: How to Be a Climate Hero

Maia said:
>> But meanwhile, we have to stop arguing about climate models and get busy inspiring each other to stop poisoning the planet and treat all resources with respect and care.<<

Yes indeed. I have been through all the climate sceptic arguments a hundred times and I don’t intend wasting time playing verbal ping pong. It is the time to do something, now. Like I said, living a low impact - low carbon life is not hard and can even be fun! Just do it Dennis.

Maia,

  I dispute your unsupported contention that we Americans are wasting resources.  We are using the resources available to provide ourselves with a comfortable, healthy and safe existence.  I see no waste in that. 

I also dispute your unsupported contention that we are polluting the air, land and water.  You need only to look at the historical data on the EPA website to see enormous decreases in the concentrations of pollutants everywhere.  We are not “poisoning the planet”.  If you believe that we are, show us some data.  Keep in mind that we will have to interpret your data in view of the fact that Americans (and others in developed economies) are living longer, more comfortable lives than any other society in all of human history. 

Well-developed economies are willing and able to support the activities that eliminate the adverse effects of industry.  The worst environments exist in poor and underdeveloped countries.  There is no “unarguable (sic) truth about the need to cut-down on/eliminate fossil fuels”.  I see no need at all for Americans to change the quantities of fossil fuels that we use.  The need to do so will be economic; it will be in the form of prices so high that other means of providing energy will take over, when it comes. 

Wilderness is less scarce today than it was 50 years ago, largely because of improved farming methods that allow production of more and higher quality foods on less land.  The areas of forest and wilderness areas have been increasing for a long time.  If you wish to see the scale of the proposed oil development relative to the total size of ANWAR, just throw a dime on your six-person dining table.  Very little wilderness will go away.

Of course, we will make changes to our methods for doing things.  Those changes occur continually and are likely to occur continually into the distant future.  I cannot think of many things that we do today that we did in 1900.  Can you?  I have no idea what we will be doing in 2100.  Do you?

During WWII, the axis powers controlled access to many of the natural resources needed to maintain an industrial society.  Rubber and aluminum were 2 of many.  Our society rallied to conserve and recycle many of the necessities not because they were used up, but because our fascist enemies controlled their sources.  We found bauxite in Arkansas and Jamaica.  Ameripol Synpol devised a method for the manufacture of synthetic (butyl) rubber.  We innovated and we overcame.  However, it had nothing to do with the current insanity of our waste of time, money and natural resources to recycle things that we do not need to recycle.  Some of what we waste money recycling, i.e. paper and plastic, would be put to better use as fuel for electric generation. 

I think that you need to step back from the negative interpretations of our existence that pervades activist websites and look at the bigger picture.  That picture shows that humans who are lucky enough to live in developed, industrial, market driven economies are thriving by every objective measure.  I do not think that anyone needs to apologize for that.

Col,

Well, if you have been through all of the arguments a hundred times, you should have the information right at your fingertips.  You should be able to answer my questions in just about as long as it took you to put together your most recent response. 

I have provided three meteorological observations that appear to me to directly contradict the notion that carbon dioxide is the cause of the ongoing warming of our climate.  If you have information that demonstrates some flaw in my reasoning, please let us all in on it.

By the way, I am disinclined to take detrimental actions in response to unsupported rumor.

Dennis, I see no point in arguing with you as it is a waste of time and energy; I prefer to use both on mitigating the human effects of climate change. My only hope is that one day you will realise that your high energy use, polluting lifestyle has an enormous impact on the planet and the other people that inhabit it.

Col,

I am disappointed that you will not engage on this subject.  I believe that the failures of the carbon dioxide-based warming models to represent the behavior of the atmosphere accurately to be a fatal flaw to the concept that carbon dioxide is causing the warming.  There may be some reason why IPCC and others do not agree, but I have been unable to find any explanation of the reasons why we should ignore this blatant failure of the models. 

I was hoping that you could describe the rationale. 

Oh, well.

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What an enlightening article. Sad but true. On the North Shore of Massachusetts there is a dirty power plant considered one of the Filthy Five in Massachusetts, owned by one of the biggest power companies in the country. They basically run Massachusetts and could care less about CO2 or our health, or how they are running my city into the ground, paying squat in taxes. I’ve lived here for a long time. The mayor in Salem does nothing. The governor does nothing. The schools are in deep trouble financially. A few groups are trying—one is visionforsalem.org and another is stoptheplantnow.org. I’d give these people money but they don’t take any. We need more groups like these on the front lines.

I just cliked by mistake on the “REMOVE MY NAME” and I ask that, if you can, see that my name remain on the informed list.
George Verdon