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Global Warming, A Man-made Crisis: Part 1

Politics / Climate Change Feb 13, 2010 - 08:09 AM GMT

By: Arnold_Bock

Climate warming has become so universally accepted that it is worth one's reputation to raise even a tepid question regarding warming wisdom or its factual accuracy. Ordinary civic minded citizens who dare to exhibit the temerity to raise serious questions about the merits of man-made CO2 are routinely dismissed as uninformed troglodytes. Scientists who question prevailing climate wisdom are shunned by professional colleagues and shut out from lucrative government research grants. Often their careers are sidelined and professional reputations damaged, sometimes beyond repair, simply because they insist that the methodologies of science be respected.

Indeed, Al Gore, Nobel Laureate and 'eminence grise' of the global warming and climate change movement, continually repeats...the world as we know it will surely come to an end...caused by the rapid temperature increases and massive flooding...triggered by rising ocean levels and...only dramatic measures designed to stop the production of man-made anthropogenic CO2 caused by burning fossil fuels...will alter the trajectory of this looming disaster... otherwise a global calamity of immense proportions is inevitable.

Unfortunately, those environmentalists motivated to support initiatives which contribute to the greater good of society but reluctant to subscribe unthinkingly to the political agenda of the warming movement, are routinely scoffed at and humiliated. Publicity demonizing carbon dioxide, especially the man made version, routinely convicts anyone who drives a gasoline-powered car, cooks his hamburgers on the barbeque, warms their living room with the cosy flames of the fireplace or cools their home with air conditioning using electricity generated by coal or natural gas. We are pronounced guilty of contributing to a looming genocide. The guilt we are made to feel, stemming from our apparent insensitivity and warped morality, is almost palpable.

Climbing Aboard the Global Warming Train

1. Government Leaders

Do our institutional leaders, untrained in climatology, know more than the rest of us or is it possible they find being advocates of the warming cause useful for personal career reasons? Maybe fragile egos crave approbation and validation by the majority who are warming believers? There are more than a few experts in organizational and leadership theory who have noticed that leaders frequently exhibit well honed skills at discerning which direction the parade is heading. Having made that determination, these leaders hastily head to the front of the march to squelch man-made carbon dioxide.

2. Electric Power Utility Companies

Also puzzling is finding sizeable support for the warming cause from business sectors one instinctively expects to be opposed to caps on CO2 emissions. Major electric power utility companies, which are among the largest consumers of fossil fuels leading to the emission of significant quantities of CO2 and other air and water born pollutants, have also joined the climate warming brigade. How can that be? Isn't that contrary to their financial self interest? Is it possible that power utilities are actually public spirited corporate citizens driven to do what is best for the environment?

What about their significant support for "Cap and Trade" which is the centerpiece of CO2 mitigation measures? Not only is it notable that many utility companies have enthusiastically signed on to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), but so, too, have major investment banks and hedge funds. Trading Carbon Futures has obviously drawn these moths to the global warming heat simply because it is a golden opportunity to mint money. Whatever the additional costs imposed by the purchase price of carbon credits, utility companies are certain that regulators will allow those additional costs to be passed on to consumers. Moreover, trading carbon credits opens the door to exploit major new profit opportunities.

3. Wall Street Banks

Investment banks, such as JP Morgan Chase, have also joined-in. Money-masters like Chase have recently been discredited and shut out of further billions of dollars previously generated by their creation and sale of various forms of questionable and fraudulent financial paper known as Derivatives. Trading carbon credits provides a new profit source.

Considering that these amoral - some might suggest "sociopathic" - institutions almost gutted the globe's financial system in September 2008, any issue to which they attach themselves should be viewed with considerable alarm. While not guaranteed, it is reasonable to conclude, from their recent actions that in whatever activity these financial behemoths involve themselves, it must, by definition, run counter to the public interest.

4. Hedge Funds

These large pools of private capital also use large amounts of borrowed money to leverage their speculative trades in a variety of financial products which now include carbon credits. Is it not an inconvenient truth that the pious pied piper of climate change, Al Gore, has become a partner in two hedge funds, Generation Investment Management (GIM) and Capricorn Investment Group LLC, set up to specifically trade carbon credits? Speculation suggests his paltry 2 million dollar net worth at the time he lost his Presidential bid to George W. Bush has mushroomed fifty fold since taking up the climate cause.

Speculative trading in carbon credits will primarily benefit institutional traders, with only limited benefit accruing to the environment or third world nations to use in kick-starting climate friendly projects. The cost of carbon credits will most certainly contribute to raising the cost of electricity, manufacturing costs and the cost of living generally. All the while imposition of caps is guaranteed to contribute precious little to limit carbon emissions.

5. Ordinary Citizens

Enlisting massive support from so many well intentioned people who genuinely believe in the need to nurture nature has been its singular success. Regular citizens have been bought into the cause in spite of the fact that their cost of living will increase and their standard of living lowered. Selflessness in the cause of preserving the environment is their motivation.

Some of us, however, are by nature cursed with an inquisitive mind and have developed and honed our analytical skills to a degree sufficient to prevent us from blindly bending to overwhelming publicity which promotes a single perspective. In spite of the powers of persuasion mounted by climate activists, opinion makers and their cheerleading media mascots, there remain those who insist on examining the results of rigorous and independent research before adopting any assertion, ideology, belief or conventional wisdom portrayed as truth.

Contrarians naturally find themselves uneasy with any large public policy issue which seems to have had the benefit of a consensus viewpoint from the beginning. "The science is settled" and "peer review proves it" are mantras which are just too convenient for comfort.

Have you hopped aboard the global warming/carbon credit trading train or are you starting to question what you have been told and question what the benefits are for those who promote such 'science' as opposed to you as a private citizen of this planet?

Editor's Note: The above article is Part 1 of a 4-part series that includes: "U.S. and Canada Are Global Warming Scapegoats (Part 2)"; "Why Should WE Make Sacrifices to Offset Global Warming? (Part 3)"; "Global Warming: The 'Anthropocentric' Crisis (Part 4)".

By: Arnold Bock

www.MunKnee.com

© 2010 Copyright Arnold Bock- All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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Comments

Brad Griffeth 14 Feb 10, 13:59	Man-made global warming a scam There are over 30,000 signatories to a petition by US climate scientists, meteorologists and atmosphere physicists that states they DO NOT agree with man-made global warming. (I am one) As a meteorologist, I think the push for global warming is just another way to introduce 'pay to pollute' Cap and Trade legislation worldwide, allowing large firms to essentially pollute for much less than currently; as aresult, CO2 levels will not fall. C02 is a very small contributor to any greenhouse warming anyway, accounting for less than 1% of any warming seen by the greenhouse process; by far the buggest contributor is water vapor at around 96%! Lowering C0@ emiisions will not result in any cooling.C02 is also plant food, meanign higher concentrations lead to faster plant growth and higher food production...that's why greenhouses pump it in. By the way, the earth is in a cooling climate phase right now and has been since the hot year of 1998; (the SECOND hottest year after 1934) most likely due to a very quiet solar cycle. The sun is by far the biggest driver of climate change; lets try to tax it to lower it's output!
Leonard Tachner 14 Feb 10, 15:48	Man-made CO2 Mr. Griffeth is correct, but in addition man-made CO2 is only about 3% of all of the emitted CO2, 97% of it being naturally generated. That means that if humans around the globe could somehow reduce their CO2 emissions to zero, the resulting effect on greenhouse warming would be 0.03%. Not much for Billions of dollars and millions of jobs is it?
Dee Ranger 16 Feb 10, 21:11	Faith gone mad Anthropogenic Climate Change is nothing but religion. A faith-based hysteria fueled with fear, lies (read "science") and the utter gullibility of the public at large.
Joseph Harland 18 Feb 10, 09:37	Rebuttals I might start by agreeing with the fact that a cap and trade program provides major opportunities for investors to get rich and is not a good way of dealing with climate change if it does exist. However, simply because a plan to deal with climate change offers benefits to some doesn't mean that man made global warming doesn't exist. Brad, you mention that 30,000 professionals do not agree with man made warming. I realise that this does suggest that there is legitimate, professional opposition to the idea of climate change however, does the fact that 30,000 people disagree negate the fact that far more professionals support and have evidence of the fact that man-made global warming is occurring. Yes C02 levels are less than 1%, that is a scientific fact, however, these levels have doubled as a result of human activity...or maybe this is just a pure coincidence and unrelated to the amount of greenhouse gases we are emitting...or then again, maybe not. man-made CO2 is in fact closer to 6% of all CO2...yes I know it doesn't sound like much but low percentages translate into high values when they are on such a large scale. Leonard, you obviously don't study economics. "Billions of dollars and Millions of jobs"???? Im not sure where you got that statistic from (maybe you were just following the general public belief) but almost any educated economist will tell you that a cap and trade or a carbon tax scheme would provide stimulus to the economy and help boost incomes. These clearly aren't immediate costs or benefits of a plan and maybe thats where you got lost. A carbon tax would mean that other taxes could be lowered which would likely in fact increase the disposable income of low income households. Wow, I'm gonna end up writing way too much but let me continue. Dee Ranger, you referred to the public at large as gullible...I assume this leaves you as being exempt from the "public at large". A lot of the Climate Change "sceptics" consider themselves as more capable thinkers from other members of the public. This is a natural human way of thinking (research cognitive biases) in which we consider ourselves different from the rest of humanity. Its also common for us to consider people who follow mainstream beliefs as not experienced or knowledgeable enough to think for themselves because they don't follow less popular beliefs. I experience this with my taste in music; I am into alternative and indie music and therefore consider everyone who enjoys pop music as simply not knowing what good music actually is...hmm im rambling on a bit. Ill finish off by adding that reducing our reliance on carbon dioxide has multiple benefits... it clears the air we breathe, lowers the cost we have to put into defence to secure our coal supplies (which is an important issue) and (like it or not) it reduces the risks of man-made global warming from occurring in the future, whether the science is conclusive or not either way.
rocky 15 May 10, 04:38	warming dribble answer this joseph harland. if co2 traps radiation from the sun, then it stands to reason that the c02 has already risen up through the ozone layer which reflects away u.v. radiation, what proof can be offered that the co2 does not keep on rising away from the earth and dissipating into space ? and if co2 does get trapped, then why is it that billions of years of volcanoes, bushfires and the emittence of co2 gasses have not already destroyed our earth ? if the "theory" of man made global warming was correct, and that co2 is trapped in our atmosphere, then how is it that we exist ? then there is the cfc debacle, cfc's take years to be "blown" up by winds rising above the ozone layer where u.v. radiation breaks down the cfc's into base elements, one of the elements being chlorine, the theory is that the chlorine falls back through the ozone, 1 chlorine atom can kill hundreds of thousands of ozone atoms, but what proof do the alarmists have that the chlorine actually drops back down through the ozone ? besides, the earth itself constantly emits chlorine into the atmosphere every day. alarmists claim that there is less ozone today than there was in the past, but i dont believe for one minute that science can accurately measure how much ozone is in the atmosphere, especially when ozone can be found anywhere from ground level to 30 miles up. as for so-called ozone holes which is actually just a thinning of the ozone layer, they are a seasonal occurrence which indicates it to be a natural accurrence. even the alarmists admit that it is a seasonal occurrence. and to finish, if cfc's pollution etc are the cause of ozone (supposed) depletion. why dont these ozone holes appear all over the world where pollution etc comes from ? and why aren't they constantly in existence rather than being an annual occurrence ? ozone is always replenishing itself, that is a fact, and it will continue to do so long after man made global warming is finally recognised for the scam that it is.
Don 15 May 10, 09:10	Reduced taxes from cap & trade?? Mr Harland, it is hilarious that you think 'other taxes could be lowered' if a carbon tax were to be introduced. Have you ever seen a tax reduced?? I haven't. Global warming is a total crock, and everyone knows it. The problem is, politicians and the media continue to push this nonsense be cause there is MONEY to be made from it. Creating a ridiculous, fantasy driven, crisis would allow those elitists in power to steal even MORE money from the worlds citizens through bloated taxation. The current volcano in Iceland has spewed more CO2 into the atmosphere than humans ever have. There is actually MORE evidence that global warming is NOT happening than there is to support it, but the communist media won't tell the public about that. A crisis sells, so they stick with that instead of the truth.