Global Warming: A Political Lie.

[JaggedEdge]

To OP
Perhaps they chose the least of the culprits in the whole mix, but more often then not CO2 is accompanied by shit loads of other bad stuff. Your belief that since we have natural resourses we should use them for unnatural things if fucking retarded, ignorant, and over looks the possible future concequences that you yourself have said is too early to tell. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

One more thing. If they couldn't finger the correct culprit, doesn't that completely undermine their entire argument? I love how easy people are. Well maybe CO2 isn't the cause even though that is all they talk about, but we should still listen to them.

And dude that shit about smokey the bear.. like come on... its about having a fire responsibly, common sense shit man. the fires still get started just as they have been for thousands of years, natural lightning.

See above. We are natural. Our accidently causing fires was part of the natural order! That's the entire point. Now when a "natural" fire starts from a lightning strike, it tends to burn more uncontrollably, because we failed to keep up our end of the bargain for the last 60 years.

[yokinazu]

ok well correct me if im wrong here but i remember learning a few years ago that before the last ice age there was a period of global warming that was caused by increased volcanic activity that raised CO2 levels in our atmosphere. so it seems that we call these green house gases for the reason that they act like a green house over our planet thereby warming it.

also as i said before who gives a shit whether or not its man made. i care about the air i breathe the water i drink and the food i eat. CO2 may be impotant for plant but they to cannot live suckin exhaust fumes from cars and trucks. i myself dont want to live in a stinky shit hole.

it not that we shouldnt use our natural resources but we should definatly be more responsible in theyre collecting and usage. look at strip mining today compared to 100 trys ago. its 1000 times claener and bettre for the enviroment.

[Delta9 UK]

Ignoring climate change for just a moment....

I live in the UK but, don't you think that reducing the U.S dependance on Fossil fuels and foreign imported oil has huge benefits?

Fossil fuels like Coal and Oil have a great many uses other than setting fire to them! From plastics to medicines this is a finite resource and we are utterly squandering it. This resource is finite and when its gone its gone - you don't even need to understand the carbon cycle fully to see we are upsetting the balance.

The U.S would benefit hugely by being independant of foreign imported oil - oil which comes from countries which are unstable and not exactly 'U.S' friendly. In the UK for example we are dependant now on imported Gas - and the Russians are cornering the market - not good imho.

Developing renewables is good for energy security - something the U.S and the U.K would definately benefit from.

I strongly suggest all of you read this book (it's a free online PDF) which covers the options we have with regard to Sustainable Energy - it makes sobering reading - but is very accessible:

David MacKay: Sustainable Energy - without the hot air: Download

[jamesia]

Temperatures have been rising, for whatever reason you personally believe. This is a documented fact. As temperatures rise, permafrost melts and will release tons (speaking quantitatively here) of methane will be released. This is on top of the tons released because of feeding livestock corn rather than grass. Methane causes the greenhouse effect at a much higher magnitude than CO2, so as things get hotter, there will be feedback from many different sources that will increase the temperature. Another such one is carbonic acid created from rain + CO2 which will weather mountains around the world that are largely calcium carbonate... creating more CO2 in the environment. This type of acid is highly unstable, and will react quickly with rocks rather than just flowing off into pools or streams. The more CO2 in the air, the more rock weathering... leading to even more CO2 in the air. These are facts. I know this because my job, and my projects revolve around this subject. It's not a matter of the Earth's ability to self-regulate. If you're inputting to a system quicker than the system can output products, then you'll have a problem...

Despite the environmental reasons, there are several other reasons to transition from oil, like Delta9 says. We do a hell of a lot more with oil than transportation and energy. All plastics are made from oil, some cosmetics, skin care products, the list is fairly long. Are you prepared to give all that up? And should we really keep sending money to the Middle East, where part will just end up in jihadists hands? Personally, I find these reasons more compelling than the environmental side, but there ya have it.