The sky is falling....and it'll cost ya!

Interacting with patients and their families each day is one of the best things about my job. I certainly see the whole spectrum of people, their concerns, questions, and yes...even jokes. It's especially interesting to hear the theories of parents on their kid's new need for glasses. I have seen many Moms for instance, who confindently assume the video games their son plays are responsible for the new need for specs. TV, and computer also often get tagged by parents confident... or desperate, to get their kid away from the unfavorable activities. (What's interesting is reading is never questioned). People see a negative, or perceived negative outcome, like their kid needing glasses, and quickly form a cause for the outcome that fits their agenda. I don't mean to rip on my patients. Seeing cause and effect relationships that benefit us in some way is human nature, and a concept any married person can certainly relate to. (Shell, did you know watching HGTV instead of sportcenter causes breast cancer?....Don't believe me? Go ahead and survey breast cancer patients and see which channel they watch more of!!!)


Ladies and Gentlemen, global warming is no different! I acknowledge the earth does seem to be warming slightly (less than a degree Celcius in the last 100 years), but to assume it is caused by mankind's activities is about as ridiculous as my HGTV example.Watching Gore's propagandumentery was the best piece of pick and choose your evidence work i've ever seen. First off, has anyone ever heard of the ice age? I'd have to look it up, but I could swear it happened a few years before SUV's were invented. News flash Al Gore, the earth has proven it's capable of MASSIVE climate change without any human input.....well caveman input I guess. Actually Gore does mention the previous ice ages, but of course THIS round of climate change is different! The scare tactics abound in this film. For one, Gore not so subtly suggests that every natural disaster can be blamed on human activity. For instance he mentions that rencently, Japan had 10 typhoons in 1 year, the highest number ever! That statistic is true, BUT he left out the very important caveat that the lower pacific regions, including the Phillipines, had many fewer typhoons, they just simply shifted more north that year. Of course the melting of Kilamanjaro is blamed on global warming too. The problem with this claim is Kilamanjaro like many other midlatitude glaciers,have been declining for well over a century. And Hurricane Katrina being mankind's fault? I remember in school learning about something called the scientific method....I thought there were certain steps required before a claim became a theory, let alone dramatic claims with no evidence becoming a theory. But why bother with theory even it all? Just skip theory and go straight to calling it fact, then denounce any skeptic to that so called fact as an ignorant, big oil sell out. That's alot funner! Back to the actual warming. That staggering 1 degree rise in the last 100 years is actually basically linear. That is, it raised as much from 1900 to about 1950 as it has from 1950 till now, despite that fact our "carbon output" has skyrocketed in the last 50 years. In fact, even according to Gore's graphs, temperature rises actually preceded CO2 elevation on certain occasions. Yeah i'm thinkin the whole carbon output=rise in CO2 levels=global warming equation has just a few holes in it. Any theory this emotionally charged so low on actual evidence to back it up just screams "agenda."


But let's get back to the evidence....or lack thereof. If a few scientists scream the sky is falling, do we take them at their word? Well they were sure screaming a few decades back. The funny thing is, not only were they singing a different tune, but the exact opposite tune. These "never wrong" scientists came out with a global cooling scare in the 1970's. You heard me right, cooling. (TAKE A FEW SECONDS AND GOOGLE "GLOBAL COOLING 1975" and read the Newsweek article listed. I dunno, sounds pretty convincing to me....) Why the change in scare tactic.. errr.....temperature? I guess "warming" sounds a little more terrifying (unless of course, you live in Utah presently, then warming sounds pretty good).


You would think from listening to Hollywood stars (who are experts on climatology by the way), and the rest of the media, that everyone who's anyone is on board with the theory, but the fact is there is ALOT of disagreement from climatologists on the subject (meteorologist and founder of the Weather Channel John Coleman for one). But, just like Mother Earth, the dissenters are sure feeling the heat. How would it be to have some of your fellow peers, and supposed unbiased journalist tell you you're the eqivalent of a Holocaust denier if you don't endorse the global warming movement? Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe claimed just that. Then there's Heidi Cullen, a climatologist from the Weather Channel, who suggested that any of her collegues who dissent should lose their certification from the American Meteorological Society! Despite the pressure, many respected scientist do not put their rubber stamp on this ridiculous theory. Sanity is not dead!


Why then, have so many jumped on board? I think it's the garbage can effect. Let me explain; Today when I got home from work, I noticed the garbage can I took to the curb that morning was still full. It was then that I realized garbage day was tomorrow. The funny thing was, so many people had their cans out. My guess is, the neighbor saw us take our can out and thought, "I'm not certain they're right, but better safe than sorry, so I will too." Then, when our other neighbor sees two cans out, then it must be so....and so on and so on. As scary as it sounds, some people can see a blurb on the news, a celebrity or two cry "the sky is falling," and when a friend mentions "we just gotta stop global warming,", they think...."uhhh, yeah, yeah WE DO!)." Phenomonons can spread, for cryin out loud look how popular the Back Street Boys got!

So what's the big deal if mankind isn't actually causing global warming? What's the harm in people believing a bogus theory, especially if it motivates them to help clean the earth? First off, there are many global warming advocates...of say the Hollywood/Washington variety, who aren't really doing a whole lot to clean the earth. Mr. Gore's house for instance, consumes about 20 times that of the average American home. The hypocrisy of the messanger certainly doesn't negate the message, but it is worth noting. Secondly, there isn't a global warming skeptic out there who doesn't want clean air and water. To suggest that anyone who doesn't jump on the global warming band wagon wants polluted rivers and air is a little far fetched...even for this crowd. We owe it to our children to leave the earth better than we inherited it, and companies aren't just working for a better planet out of genuine concern, but also to protect their image. However noble or "greedy" their intentions are, the fact is a whole lot is being done, and will continue to be done to clean the planet...whether or not global warming is real. Yes there are scumbags out there still polluting the earth, but us nbelievers are working hard for a clean planet too!
The real reason the global warming movement is so scary is that it's gonna cost you-big time!
New Zealander's already pay an environmental tax with their electric bill. The Governator Arnold Scheiowroamomlrezz is pushing a similar program in California. John Mccain, the uhhhhh Republican guy for prez, proposed a roughly 30 cent hike tax on each gallon of gas to combat global warming. Startin' to hold some real relevence for ya now, isn't it? To further explain, what if I told you carrots do indeed help your eyes, but you need to buy the exotic, Andes grown carrots of South America, or you could go blind!!!! It's not hard to see that some people (South American carrot farmers for instance) would benefit from this, and have a vested interest in propagating this theory, while our own American carrot growers would be harmed as this "movement" gained momentum. Once you start looking at the economic ramifications of a theory, i'd say it becomes pretty darn stinkin important if it's real or not, and there may be people who become less intrested in the truth, and more interested in the momentum! This concern was voiced in a January 9th article in the New York Times, The article details the concern of the Federal Trade commission on certain companies profiting so heavily from carbon offset programs (some 54 million dollars last year alone..and i'm a conservative, I like profits....in this case however.....). Anyway, the article states: With the rapid growth of green programs like carbon offsets, "there’s a heightened potential for deception," said Deborah Platt Majoras, chairwoman of the commission. Yeah, no kidding.
At the risk of sounding like a paranoid, conspiracy theorist, there is a deeper problem with the global warming theory. On an international level, worthless organizations like the UN have consistently used Global Warming to leverage policies that directly harm the US economy. Basically, in a not-so-sublte way, the international folks are suggesting that wealthy, carbon emmitters should essentially shut down their industrial machine to stop evil carbon emmissions. It's not just subtle suggestions, formal treaties have been drafted so blatantly anti-American you'd have to be....(insert noun of choice here)....not to see it. Thank goodness GW Bush had the guts and the sense to reject the Kyoto treaty, which would have cost us an estimated 325 billion dollars, while hypocritically demanding nothing of China, a country who, within the next year or two will emit more greenhouse gasses then we are.
Here's the deal people. This hoax is not just annoying, it's dangerous. We can work hard to clean the planet through alternate energy programs and more earth friendly habits as personal consumers. We cannot waste billions of dollars, and agree to needlessly shut down vital parts of the American economy all to entertian the bogus notion that we control mother nature. I don't know if it'll take 5 years or 50, but eventually the chirade will come crashing down and man-made Global Warming will be revealed as the greatest hoax in world history. I just fear we'll have to endure some serious economic hardship first...... not to mention a Gore sequel: An inconvenienter truth...please, no!