Quote: randy allen

Golly Will,
I don't even rate an honorable memtion as an advocate?
I'm an etc!!!!!!!
Randy

You mean you want in? To the duped group?

I too view large corporations as exactly what they are. They are supposed to make money for their stockholders. That is their job. Their job is not to police their emissions or protect the environment or anything else.

But they can! And I want them to! It has to be economically advantageous. And it can be!

For me, that is the goal. To make protecting the only earth we have a priority, and to make it exciting and remunerative for the bright young folks finishing school to turn to the research and innovation that will take us there.

Randy, most of this thoughtful conversation has been in reply to your postings, so you rate way more than "an honorable mention" in my book!

 Quote: will rambeau

And I need to add this, I think that most of the people that believe the global warming scare have a good heart and care for the Earth ( like Connie and Rich, etc. ) it's just at the very top that the true intentions are hidden for dishonest purposes.

Umm, actually Will, I am a skeptic with concerns.

On the one hand plants are blooming earlier, insects are migrating north, and higher temperatures have been observed and some ice sheets have been melting. CO2 has increased in the atmosphere and the science behind greenhouse warming is solid.

On the other hand the Romans once raised grapes for wine in Great Britain. Some ice sheets are thickening. The Nisqually Glacier, on Mt. Rainer, which had been receding for decades reversed course a few years ago and is now working its way back down its valley. Ice ages have come and gone and the medieval warming period was real. And so is the "hockey stick" that Al Gore made fun of. And the amount of observed warming does not agree with the computer models, which suggest that our understanding of climate change is imperfect at best.

And the IPCC, that group that produced a document that everyone claims demonstrates scientific consensus on global warming, says it is 90% certain that some of the observed warming is due to human activity. And, as I said before, most peer reviewed scientific journals won't accept 90% certainty for publication, it's too low. And I have enough of a background in science to know that what we think of as a fact today could be tomorrow's superstition. Remember how everyone started taking vitamin C after Linus Pauling, a Nobel prize winner, said it would prevent colds? At least 16 double blind studies have shown it does not, but people still persist in taking it. Linus Pauling won his Nobel prize in an area of chemistry that had nothing to do with vitamins and health, but people believed him.

No, I think the jury is still out and I am amused, and somewhat alarmed, by the people who go around saying the evidence is in and the issue is closed and all serious scientists see an apocalypse coming. I am just as alarmed at people who refuse to recognize the science and the indications that something is happening, and that it appears to be happening faster than it has in the past.

So yes, I am concerned that global warming may be a real threat, and that it may be caused by human activity. But I'm not convinced of it beyond a reasonable doubt. And I'm not going to lose any sleep over whether or not people agree with me. The people on this board are, for the most part, great, and it doesn't bother me in the least that we will have disagreements from time to time.

Rich,
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesn't some of the most reserved understated studies predict exactly this is pretty much what is expected in a warming world. Quick swings one way and then the other that generally spell bad news for localized inhabitants and flora before things really degrade to bad as a whole?

Signed,
Etc


Ps.
Will, I just didn't want to be left out!

Solution to our energy problems = Space exploration.

The extent to which the USA funds space research is pathetic... and half of that money doesn't even go to NASA. Rather, it goes to Department of Agriculture and other places to research global warming and ozone depletions, etc.

Space exploration research has brought us all kinds of things we enjoy in our daily lives. Things like microwave ovens, microcomputers, etc.

Had we continued to fund space exploration at the rate we did during the Moon race, we would have put humans on Mars 20 years ago. How do I know this? I've spent the last year at the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College surrounded by missile and space officers.

The technology currently exists to collect all the energy we need from the sun and microwave it directly to Earth from orbital solar arrays. But I guess we'd rather continue funding terrorism by buying petroleum from the middle east.

After all, it's kind of hard to commit money to space exploration when you've already committed to bailing out failing corporations and creating a nanny state that promises to take care of people from cradle to grave.

Hey Rich, does my colon still need bran? I forget, is coffee ok now? Lol. (Sorry, thoughtful conversation can be a stretch for me)

 Quote: steve strom

Hey Rich, does my colon still need bran? I forget, is coffee ok now? Lol. (Sorry, thoughtful conversation can be a stretch for me)

Yes, and shade-grown fair-traded.

Nah, just give me something from the midwest and some Yuban. I don't feel any guilt.

 Quote: Kurt Smith

Solution to our energy problems = Space exploration.

The extent to which the USA funds space research is pathetic... and half of that money doesn't even go to NASA. Rather, it goes to Department of Agriculture and other places to research global warming and ozone depletions, etc.

Had we continued to fund space exploration at the rate we did during the Moon race, we would have put humans on Mars 20 years ago. How do I know this? I've spent the last year at the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College surrounded by missile and space officers.

Yes, but we've been so busy funding the War On Drugs (now there's a war without an exit strategy...).
And now we're gonna pay to fund catfish research.

GOooooo CATFISH!

(oops, I mean seakittens.)

 Quote:

The technology currently exists to collect all the energy we need from the sun and microwave it directly to Earth from orbital solar arrays. But I guess we'd rather continue funding terrorism by buying petroleum from the middle east.

I don't want to fund terrorism any more either but since my 72 El Camino won't run on microwaves I need Gasoline. I wouldnt mind if we put 1000 Oil drilling platforms just west of Santa Barbara as long as I can open the secondaries on that Edelbrock without going broke.