alter-energy

I read two things in the news today. One from some schmuck in the Opinion section of the Free Lancaster Star entitled: On fighting global warming--the deception, that is, not the event to which I promptly sent the following reply:

In reply to "On fighting global warming--the deception, that is, not the event" on 9/19, I have to ask where Mr. Stanley gets his facts? He claims that:

"Unfortunately, pseudo-scientists and hacks have latched onto global warming as a way to gain notoriety and/or political influence. More and more, the true scientific community is realizing that popular journalism and Internet "wisdom" is not science, Kyoto is a farce, and global warming is something to adjust to, not be terrified by."

This is, in fact, the polar opposite of what is happening. The true scientific community, not the handful of lab coats working for Shell or GM, is now more firmly behind global warming as fact than ever before. Those attempting to debunk the reality of global warming and spin it like nothing to worry about are generally those with financial and political ties to the oil and auto industries. It's not hard to spot a financial connection...

Mr. Stanley talks about cyclical periods of cooling and warming, which nobody denies, but he fails to mention the breakneck speed at which this period of warming is happening as compared to the natural cycles. It's this sort of silver-tongued nonsense that's gumming up the issue.

Your readers are smart people, and hopefully smart enough to not be swayed by Mr. Stanley's, admittedly well-crafted, schlock, but I feel I have to reply.

The science is simple. It works the same way a pane of glass in a backyard greenhouse works. The wavelength of visible light passes right through the pane of glass, but the infrared light (heat) is trapped within. A layer of greenhouse gases around the Earth works the same way.

You start producing more and more greenhouse gases, in conjunction with reducing the efficiency of the Earth's natural carbon dioxide scrubbing system (cutting down the rainforests) and you end up with global warming. Schoolchildren get the science, but industry lobbyists are paid big dollars to confuse our politicians. It's both amazing and unfortunate how confusing those campaign contributions can be...

And another from ABCNews entitled: Gore Calls for Action on Global Warming quoted Al Gore highlighting the obfuscation of the global warming issue.

"When we make big mistakes in America, it is usually because the people have not been given an honest accounting of the choices before us," Gore said in an hour-long speech at New York University Law School. "It also is often because too many members of both parties who knew better did not have the courage to do better."

I didn't hear the speech, nor can I speak to its content, but that point rings true. Much of the rhetoric downplaying global warming is carefully crafted spin, citing only the convenient pieces of the truth. The global scientific community has been speaking out not on what's convenient to one argument or another, but on the available evidence - convenient, inconvenient, frightening, etc. Who are you going to believe...?