From today's Washington Times
Carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels recorded their largest drop in 19 years last year, the federal government's chief clearinghouse for energy information reported, adding new fodder to the debate in Congress about how -- or whether -- to reduce greenhouse gases.
Perhaps at this point we would make better sierdts if we all got up and told Congress we won't accept THEIR terms regarding the environment. A president with a conscience has little recourse when Congress and the people as a whole are unwilling to act. I personally hope he never runs again, and not because I don't think he wouldn't be one of the greatest presidents we ever had however, just look at the system we have. The Citizens United decision by way of the USSC can now buy anyone they choose unfettered, and the Koch brothers have done much to move that along. So just how is he running in this system with a Congress already against him and people who are unmoved (mainly because of media) going to solve anything? When do we go into the streets? When do we take to the statehouses with one loud voice? As long as Americans continue to pump oil in their cars without caring as long as it is cheap and continue to watch Fox News on the whole, the American populace enmasse will remain ignorant. One man should not be tasked with the burden of changing that and frankly, that is a burden he doesn't deserve after what we witnessed before. It is up to all of us and I can't thank Mr. Gore enough for doing all he does, which in essence is more presidential than what any president has done to this point.
Posted by: Sana | October 26, 2012 at 10:06 PM
go to the wiki page on Milankovitch cycles to get an idea of the gross intpus and feedbacks that affect global climate and also the uncertainties involved.What isn't discussed is how the continent layout and ocean circulation restrictions appear to also have a role (these two factors affect how the heat is distributed around the world), as well as the effects of ice cover in solar reflection.One of the problems is that how the climate is controlled in actuality is really not all that well understood. In gross terms, there is a pretty good idea of the important factors. It is how these factors play together to produce climate variability that is the big question. Anthro warming proponents emphasize greenhouse effects as dominant over the short term. It isn't clear that that is actually the case, but it is the essence of the argument that they present.I don't think I would characterize the idea that recent global warming is mainly caused by man as either a fact or a fiction. It is one possible explanation, one possible interpretation of the available data in terms of a poorly understood and very complex system.Not mentioned in your case is whether antro global warming is necessarily a good or bad thing. That opens up a whole different set of questions. For example, it may be that in the absence of our (man's) intpus to climate, things would have gone and would be going fairly rapidly in the other way, towards cooling, glacial expansion, and so forth (return to the ice age), and thus warming may actually be the lesser of two evils.I think it is very important to point out that the climate is not static. It does not stay the same for long. It will change to warmer or colder and tends to cycle back and forth, sometimes fairly severely. People that scream about the horrible warming tend to operate under the false premise that without man, there would have been no climate change. This is emphatically a false presumption.Not sure if that helps you or not.
Posted by: Sherelyn | June 12, 2012 at 12:47 PM