No, I said that global warming definitely exists, global cooling definitely exists, and the historical record shows that the planet has gone through steady cycles of warming and cooling for ages. We don't need models and predictions to figure that out, all we have to do is look at the physical record and we can see it.
My point is that there is no hedge against the warming and cooling cycles that the planet has always and (one might assume) will always go through. We can't control it, we can only deal with its impact. The only question is when we will experience the next warming or cooling cycle. What happens if we start dealing with greenhouse gases and then the planet becomes unexpectedly much cooler? Nothing, that's what. There is nothing we can do about it. As to the issue of pollution in the atmosphere, I would love to get off of fossil fuels, especially oil and coal, or at least move to cleaner technologies that pump fewer pollutants into the atmosphere. There is just one problem- how do we do it? We could go nuclear in a big way for electricity, but the environmental lobby acts like the mental lobby when that subject comes up. There is no other technology in existence today that could even come close to meeting worldwide energy demand. Coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power are the four big sources of energy we have. Hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, and everything else adds up to a hill of beans compared to the energy output of the top four. And hey, there are plenty of opportunities for creative people to become rich and famous out of all of this mess. Whoever finds a solution to moving millions of people around Southern California and other areas of sprawl in a way that is both convenient for them (or they will not use it), efficient (or we might as well stick to the current program) and cost-effective (or no one will pay for it) will become an instant hero across the entire industrialized world. It hasn't happened yet because the problem is extremely complex and, barring some totally out of the box solution that no one has come across, would require technology that is beyond human capability today. I have a simple suggestion for corporate and government bosses- let your people telecommute more. Imagine this scenario: Iran decides to block the Strait of Hormuz, driving oil to $200/barrel and gasoline to $6/gallon, all in an attempt to force the U.S. to back off its pressure on the Iranian regime. Such a scenario is not out of the question. How could we respond? The President could go on TV and direct federal employees to work at home when and where possible. He could suggest that state governors do the same for state governments, and that corporate bosses do the same for their employees. It would not have to be a long-term thing- maybe just a one week period where everyone worked at home as much as practical. That kind of collective action could drop gasoline and electricity usage by a huge amount and limit the impact of oil as a weapon against us. There would be all kinds of bumps along the way, but everyone would figure out how to make it work. As an added bonus, we would be burning fewer fossil fuels, and in theory helping in some small way to prevent global warming. On 8/15/07, Gruss wrote: > > > You think there is a possibility that Global Warming does exists AND > that humans MAY be able to do something about it. > > If you believe that, then you have no choice but to do something. > I've used the insurance concept to explain why this is so. It's about > managing risk, not managing certainties; the essence, really, of > business. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Enterprise web applications, build robust, secure scalable apps today - Try it now ColdFusion Today ColdFusion 8 beta - Build next generation apps Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:240473 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
