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28-02-07, 12:22 AM | #1 |
Earthbound misfit
Join Date: May 2001
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You're right on all three points, Vernarial. But consider this: water vapor, the most potent greenhouse gas, is also the one greenhouse gas over which we humans have almost no control. For that reason the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change considers it prudent to completely ignore the effects of water vapor on climate change. That's not just unscientific, it's plain stupid. But this is typical of environmentalism; it is unthinking, unquestioning, and paranoid. I am not skeptical of climate change, I'm skeptical of the doomsday predictions these people preach from their academic cathedrals.
Skepticism is healthy, it keeps us from jumping to conclusions and, if sufficiently widespread, it prevents mobs from forming, mobs like the "consensus" among scientists that has transubstantiated global warming from a scientific field of research into a religious dogma. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the desire to make the environment more livable and more comfortable, but people shouldn't make the mistake of building belief structures around that desire, especially ones that claim to be scientific. Though you may consider yourself an environmentalist, Vern, you're not like most of them from what I can tell. You're more of an environmental steward like me. Unlike you, though, I don't see any use in overstating the problem. This sense of urgency we're subject to isn't due to continuing increases in emissions but to our own short life spans. Because none of us will live long enough to affect substantial, positive change in the environment in our lifetimes, we all feel the need to cause drastic changes before we bequeath the earth to our children. This is the natural response to our own sense of mortality, but it's also the worst possible way to approach the problem. The best solution is not a one time fix, it's a perpetual process, one which future generations can continue after we're gone. And in order for us to discover that solution we must trust that future generations will be able to decide on their own what's best for them. The current environmentalist movement doesn't see things this way, unfortunately. Last edited by Mazer : 28-02-07 at 12:38 AM. |
28-02-07, 05:31 AM | #2 | |
flippin 'em off
Join Date: Dec 2001
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As for me, I don't think it's bad to have a warmer planet. But notice how the alarmists have lately tried to replace the term "global warming" with "climate change" in order to manipulate people who think that way. There's a long history of petty power seekers using excuses like global warming to get themselves the power they crave. The Kyoto Treaty would have had an insignificant affect on global warming but they take every opportunity to use it against their political opponents. Nuclear power could have reduce the possibility of global warming significantly along with a lot of pollution if petty politicians hadn't used opposition to it as a stepping stone to power. More recently the blocking of new oil field development has not only increased the price of oil but also the use of coal with its much greater environmental impact. In short, the more the power hungry rabble rousers meddle in the natural course of economics the worse they make the world. And they've got a lot of meddling planned for global warming. |
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28-02-07, 08:31 AM | #3 | ||
The Fungus Among Us
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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. – Goethe A truth that's told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent. - William Blake P2P Consortium |
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28-02-07, 09:11 AM | #4 | |
flippin 'em off
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I suspect it wouldn't amount to squat though and you're only doing some bragging for yourself rather than something worthwhile for the environment. |
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28-02-07, 07:43 PM | #5 | |
The Fungus Among Us
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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. – Goethe A truth that's told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent. - William Blake P2P Consortium |
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28-02-07, 09:24 PM | #6 | |
Earthbound misfit
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The thing is that industrial and commercial energy usage and pollution is at least twice that of non-commercial/household energy usage and pollution. You and all your neighbors could turn on all your appliances and leave all the lights in your houses burning 24/7 and the power company wouldn't notice much. You probably don't even use as much electricity in a whole year as Google uses to power its many data centers in just one week. If every American made the changes to their lifestyles that you've made it would be a good start, but lets not kid ourselves. Guilt alone will not carry us far enough to solve the real problems we're facing. Keep on keeping on if it make you happy, but only industrial sized changes are going to make a difference. |
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01-03-07, 08:07 AM | #7 |
Just Draggin' Along
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The strongest "proof' touted for global warming is the measurement of the antarctic ice mass. Whether it is shrinking or growing depends on which group of scientists you ask. It can't be getting smaller and larger at the same time.
http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO.../V9/N45/C2.jsp Remember it does not take any credentials or any particular level of education be be a "scientist". All you have to do to be a scientist is (allegedly) follow the principles of scientific investigation. Some do it better than others. I still laugh at the "picture" the Onion had of Al Gore taking a flame thrower to the Ross Ice shelf. For those who missed it, I'll post it again. Funny Stuff.
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Copyright means the copy of the CD/DVD burned with no errors. I will never spend a another dime on content that I can’t use the way I please. If I can’t copy it to my hard drive and play it using the devices I want, when and where I want, I won’t be buying it. Period. They can all take their DRM, broadcast flags, rootkits, and Compact Discs that aren’t really compact discs and shove them up their bottom-lines. |
01-03-07, 09:04 AM | #8 |
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That pic would be funnier if there was a manbearpig in it.
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01-03-07, 09:43 AM | #9 |
Just Draggin' Along
Join Date: Apr 2000
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__________________
Copyright means the copy of the CD/DVD burned with no errors. I will never spend a another dime on content that I can’t use the way I please. If I can’t copy it to my hard drive and play it using the devices I want, when and where I want, I won’t be buying it. Period. They can all take their DRM, broadcast flags, rootkits, and Compact Discs that aren’t really compact discs and shove them up their bottom-lines. |
02-03-07, 08:09 AM | #10 | |
The Fungus Among Us
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It's only a mile and a half, Albed. I don't expect everyone to make the same changes, but everyone can make some small changes.
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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. – Goethe A truth that's told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent. - William Blake P2P Consortium |
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01-03-07, 07:49 AM | #11 |
flippin 'em off
Join Date: Dec 2001
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Seems like the simple easy things you'd do even if there weren't environmental benefits. To be sure, just how far is the walk to work?
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