Posted by
Real Guy on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 12:05:57 AM
There's an interesting passage in Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" when the Spartans first form up to face the Persians in battle at Thermopylae. The Spartans maintain their quiet, disciplined ranks before the battle while the Persians whoop themselves into a frenzy. The Spartans had enough warfare experience to know that they needed to save their energy for the actual engagement. By the time the Persians made contact with the Spartans they were spent. Many of the exhausted, ineffective Persian soldiers became part of a large collection of corpses pretty quickly.
That's what I’m doing right now. I’m standing by, somewhat bemused, watching the Al Gores of the world expend their hysterical energy.
My side of the argument is the "Global Warming Is Not Man's Fault" crowd. We’re also the “Global Warming is Probably a Hoax” crowd.
Here are my top five issues with regard to Global Warming zealotry:
1. The hysteria and guilt is very entertaining - especially watching that Al Gore guy (I just read where some hotel took out their Bibles and put "An Inconvenient Truth" in their nightstands). However, I will acknowledge that Al Gore accomplished something that I have not yet been able to accomplish; he got a movie produced, released to movie theaters, and out on DVD.
2. Most of the "science" being touted on the "man is causing global warming" side is not science or anything close to it. Climate models are not science.
3. There is ample evidence that there were several periods in the earth's history when it was significantly warmer than it will ever be again (and CO2 levels have been much higher). A single warm winter doesn't mean much. Katrina meant nothing with regard to Global Warming.
4. The debate is by no means over.
5. There's money to be made and power to be gained by backing the "Man Causes Global Warming" argument. At the top, there's not an altruistic bone in anybody who's a player in this game.
Please keep in mind that the global warming issue, from my perspective, is not about whether a warming trend is in operation. The earth may well be warming (as it has done many times in the past). The issue is what is causing it and, to a lesser extent, how hysterical do we have to become about it. I object to the guilt-driven assertion that man's rampant disregard for the environmental impacts of breathing and having children and driving cars is a key cause. In conjunction with this I can't buy the basic conceit that man's behavior can be changed enough through iron fisted international treaties and legislation to make a difference. However, if this is true, Hillary Clinton needs to ground her private jet fleet right now. She's been zipping across country often enough to retire Africa's debt with her frequent flyer miles.
Having a civil discussion is impossible when one side shouts down any attempt at debate as being a done deal, closed argument, no-room-for-debate kind of issue. By the way, when I see any debatable issue become a shout-down issue like this one, it's usually the least informed who do the most shouting, and it's a good sign that they know that their argument is flawed.