global warming attacked again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17997788/site/newsweek/

Still on the holy quest to nail down the global warming sky is falling crowd. Theses #9, only another 86 to go.

People this is the point, what is the problem. We haven't defined yet clearly what will happen in the future (because we can't), so why are we running around with this silly idea that the human industrialized world is a death knoll for civilization, if not the entire ecological system as we know it. Are there reasons to be 'green' or act with appropriate concern toward energy consumption? Yup. I recycle, I drive a fuel-efficient Toyota, so I'm hardly saying we should do nothing. There are foreign policy reasons to get off the oil fix we have in this country without delving into the whole 'buy carbon offsets' that Al Gore wants us to do. That's about the biggest scam I've seen in years.

If we really want to solve this problem, its not going to be resolved by government mandates and trading 'carbon offsets' or other pollution credits. It will be resolved by a strong public initiative to force something like global pollution standards, like those which we in America and in Europe are beholden to already. That's about the only thing governments can do for us to resolve the issue is demand unilateral environmental policies in exchange for trade agreements or manufacturing contracts overseas. Governments can't force us to recycle or choose cars we don't want because they get good gas mileage. They can offer incentives, or provide penalty in the form of taxes and tax breaks. But that doesn't force people to change.

Finally, if we are all that concerned about it, I ask again, what is the problem? There isn't a good deal of credible evidence either way to suggest that human activity is having a tremendous impact on the planet nor is there sufficient evidence to suggest that the dire circumstances we are portented with are happening as we speak. Not even close. But likewise there isn't a good deal of evidence to say our actions do nothing or are of help to the environment as it presently stands. I say this means we need better studies, non-biased and verifiable. Remember, science does not care about consensus, it only cares about reproducible results. Right now all we have are computer models and a few wild ass guesses. I'm not ready to bet the farm on that.