The Great Lie – Global Warming

‘Cap and Trade’ is being brought again as a method to control Global Warming, more frequently described today as anthropogenic climate change. This change in terminology has come about as a result of the recognition that this earth is not getting warmer, but is entering a cooling period.

‘Cap and Trade’ requires that the ‘developed’ world either pay taxes on all carbon dioxide emitted or pay other countries for carbon trades. What would this mean for the US? We would immediately become non-competitive in a number of areas including metal production and refining, casting, forging, ship building, offshore oil rig production, heavy equipment manufacture (goodbye Caterpillar) and mining to name a few. Where would this work be done? In China, of course. China is not regarded as a part of the developed world and consequently can continue as not only the largest source of CO2 in the world but take in all this industry and increase its CO2 output without limits or penalties. The work will continue to be done, the worldwide output of CO2 will not be cut and the United States will have forfeited its entire heavy industrial base. The economic implications are immense. We would become a third world country.

The reason behind all of this is the Global Warming hysteria. To accept Global Warming as reality, you need to accept the following:

(1) The world is getting warmer.
(2) Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest contributor to the ‘greenhouse effect’ – the cause of global warming.
(3) The cause of this increase is man’s activity, particularly the increase in anthropogenic carbon dioxide release.

In the short run, #1 is clearly untrue and we cannot be sure of the long term since we are into an interglacial period that started about 18,000 years ago, ending the Pleistocene Ice Age. As we look at the history of the earth, interglacial periods typically seem to last from 15,000 to 20,000 years. The glacial periods last approximately 100,000 years.

During interglacial periods, there are cycles that occur. One of these is the 40-year cycle that causes short periods of global temperature increase followed by short periods of global temperature drop. This country has seen these periods. In the 1890’s we had very low temperatures, by the 1930’s we were in the hottest decade for which we have had accurate temperature records, the climate then cooled until the late 60’s/early 70’s when all the environmental whackos were talking about the next ice age. The warming peaked in 1998, when the temperature came within .01 degrees of the hottest year in the century – 1934. Since then, cooling. We can expect the cooling to continue into the 2030/2040 decades.

#2 is the easiest idea to debunk. When you ignore water vapor (you know the stuff that makes it sticky in summer) CO2 is effectively 72% of greenhouse gases. The big qualification is that you ignore not only water vapor, but water droplets (clouds) as well. This is ignoring the 500 lb Gorilla. Water vapor makes up approximately 95% of greenhouse gases. This reduces the CO2 contribution to 3.6% - not a significant number. But the situation becomes even more farcical.

#3 says that mankind is important! When will we learn? We contribute through our activities approximately .001% of the water vapor, 3.2% of the CO2, 18% of the methane, 5% of nitrous oxide (N2O) and 66% of the CFC’s and other gases. To sum it up, we cause less than 0.3% of the greenhouse gas effect.

Why then the continuing push on Global Warming? The answer is unfortunately easy and all too typical – money! If you are a scientist and you want a study funded and you put in for a study on the mating habits of the Emperor Penguin, you will probably not be funded; however if you ask for funds on the study of the impact of global warming on the mating habits of the do-do bird or the passenger pigeon, you probably will be funded.

These studies are, of course, small change. The big money will be made in the trading of the rights to create CO2. These rights will make the trading of energy futures (think Enron) bush league. Entire nations will prosper or fail based upon these and the traders may become the wealthiest men in the world. Chief among the established traders is Al Gore.