posted April 14, 2008
I believe it is important to take stock of the global warming hoax and how it is affecting us on a personal level. There are constant stories that anyone can find about how global temps stopped climbing in 1998 and now the temps have fallen more in the past year than in the past 10 years. There is abounding evidence around the world about this hoax and just looking at the snow occurring in many states is another example.
But the problem does not stop with stupid false science claims it also extends into the taxes we pay and thus how we live our lives. Too many people are allowing the government and the liberal thought process to use tax and regulation policies to control what we drive, the cost of the energy we use, and the food we eat (and can hardly afford because of the energy policy).
The state of California is attempting to place a global warming tax on certain autos, LA County is also doing the same thing, and some states are trying to increase taxes on energy because the people are conserving too much. This is what happens when liberals are in control and it will spread to Tennessee if we allow it. This is nothing more than socialism and we find all three Presidential candidates supporting some form these regulations. This cap on carbon is nothing more than the largest tax increase in history and they are even trying to make it worldwide.
We know that oil is all around us in the U.S. (just this past week it was announced North Dakota has one the largest oil deposits in it ground) and that we could get it if we just wanted to. The environmental nuts continue to stop us from mining our natural resources. Not because of pollution but because they want to restrict energy production and reduce the wealth of this country. They think we are too big and powerful. This is not to save the world from global warming but move government into more control of every facet of our lives.
Every cost of our lives is going up today because of these policies not because of lack of resources. We need leaders who will stand up these wackos and realize that there is no truth to the Al Gore lies. We need to say we expect the American economy to grow so our children will have the chance to prosper rather than to live in the liberal world of lesser prospects.
Bruce Caldwell
Signal Mountain
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Another fact filled, unbiased common sense post on global warming from Mr. Caldwell. Those darned liberals and their science. Thank you sir, and keep fighting those wind mills.
B. Vance
Johnson City
bvdisc@gmail.com
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Mr. Caldwell,
I appreciate your opinion whole heartedly and once again it is still a great country when someone can speak their opinions. Now, it's my turn.
I find it absolutely amazing that people still feel the same way you do. Global warming a hoax? A way to increase taxes? I can assure you that global warming is not a hoax and science will back it up. I would gladly pay more taxes if it would help keep the environment clean.
Have you ever heard of the Big Pacific Garbage Patch? Sir, in case you haven't I suggest you take a look. It is a patch of floating garbage the size of Texas and is over 300 foot deep and is made almost entire of plastic, a petroleum product. This garbage continues to pile up, causing incredible damage to wildlife, marine life, human life as well as polluting the waters. All of this contributes to global warming and the destruction of all of our natural resources.
I do not believe people can conserve enough and the mere thought is preposterous. I am assuming you are a father, maybe even a grandfather, yet you cannot find enough courage to help save the Earth for your family to enjoy for years to come. Instead, you sit behind words, and paranoia that the government is out to get you, and you will not stand for it. I for one, will stand up for some of our leaders who see an urgent cause to make serious changes to our policies, and to help keep this God forsaken Earth in as best shape as we can.
You and I are only passing through and I don't see fit to sit by and allow this destruction, and the depletion of our natural resources. So while I am out educating people on how important it is to be environmentally friendly, you can sit back and drink out of your Styrofoam or plastic cup, drive your gas guzzling SUV, and be paranoid that the government is out to get you, but I sir, will sleep soundly knowing that I am trying to make a difference instead of doing nothing which is what has gone on far too long.
Kent H. Phillips
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Mr. Caldwell,
It would likely be beneficial for you to turn off your talk radio and Fox News and treat yourself to some form of credible information. It seems that behind your hysterical disdain for liberals, socialists, and godless tree-hugging wackos, there is little more than distortions and fallacies copied and pasted from Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity screeds to support your audacious assertions.
For starters, your argument that global warming doesn't exist was dead 10 years ago amongst most of the "skeptics". The point at which overwhelming evidence to the contrary transcended any claim that temperatures have not been increasing over the last 100 years took place years ago. If you wish to be in step with that not-so delusional portion of your skeptic camp who cling to some strands of fact-checking, you may wish to join the "global warming is a result of the sun getting hotter" group of "scientists."
This theory replaced Rush Limbaugh's claim of volcanoes being the culprit years ago when actual research showed that CFCs emitted from volcanic ash were soluble in the atmosphere, unlike those emitted from consumption of fossil fuels. The sun argument is yet another form of accepting the rising temperatures while maintaining that human activity is not the cause.
Trouble is, a worldwide scientific consensus reveals that atmospheric carbon dioxide units have increased by over 30 percent since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Meanwhile, concentrations of industrial age greenhouse gases such as methane, tropospheric ozone, and CFCs have increased dramatically. Decades of climate research have demonstrated that not only has this increased greenhouse gases, but that the accelerated greenhouse effect has changed global climate.
When one considers the delicate nature of the greenhouse effect and how global climate and all living things rely on a very consistent balance of this perfect mixture of atmospheric gases, arguing for our God-given right as Americans to drive a Hummer and consume with no regard for the planet or future generations seems rather self-absorbed and even narcissistic.
Who benefits when we drive the most inefficient automobiles of any nation that doesn't sit atop a massive oil field? Here's a hint: $3.35 per gallon. Last year, Exxon/Mobile showed $39 billion in profits at number one of all corporations worldwide, nearly four times those of Wal-Mart, which also finished behind Conoco/Phillips and Chevron. Exxon/Mobil was also the top profit maker back in 2002 with profits at a mere $21 billion.
Could it be that their millions of dollars applied toward research and misinformation denying climate change has paid off? Since 1989, Exxon/Mobile has single-handedly funded 43 different anti-climate change advocacy groups and think tanks with over $16 million. They have used many of the same tactics (and personnel) to discredit global warming applied by tobacco companies in their denials of links between lung cancer and smoking. In fact, Fox News commentator and global warming skeptic Stephen Milloy, who has received large sums of payment from Exxon, previously worked with P.R. groups for RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris, countering health risks of tobacco smoking.
Finally, it is probably not the "wackos" whom you claim need to be stood up to who are ruining your American way of life, like Mr. Limbaugh told you. You may be faced with the reality that the global oil supply is indeed a finite resource and that we are faced with peek production of a diminishing supply. The truth is, there are no more large reserves of black gold spewing from the earth except underneath the people who hate our freedom. And those 400 billion barrels of oil reserves in South Dakota? That's less than 2% of domestic oil reserves, which are grossly insufficient.
The reason for your increased convenience costs is simple: increased demand. No president or world leader exerts much control over this factor. As we are suddenly faced with $4 per gallon gasoline, one thing is clear. The current administration has done very little to prepare for this inevitable change in the oil market. In addition, the Bush administration has consistently vetoed any energy policy with any form of fuel mileage standards. It is very difficult to understand how blame can be placed anywhere but the source of the policies of the last seven years - the grand oil party.
Instead of beginning your argument by gathering support for your pre-determined conclusion that liberals and Al Gore lies are to blame for your economic woes, perhaps you should consider a more scientific approach, basing your conclusions on where the facts lead you. This might be a tremendous help in getting to the bottom of that global warming thing.
Paul Jackson
paulanddena@yahoo.com
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