About

Perhaps I should make some sort of point. My interests are wide but my focus is clear. The issue that I find most compelling at this point in my life is Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change (CACC). I used to be terrified of the claims being made on a regular basis. However, I have come to be skeptical about the continuous warnings and occasionally sensational statements made by alarmists. I also find the solutions being pursued by to this supposed problem to be highly questionable at best and insane at worst.

It was my father, who I first remember questioning my belief in CACC. He suggested there might equal amounts of “overwhelming” evidence to suggest that global warming is natural. I had no response, but it would be several more years before I heard about the so-called CLIMATEGATE emails. Thousands of messages were stolen from a prominent university department that specialized in climate research. A great deal of the language discovered within the text certainly appeared to be that of people trying to make the data fit the theory. From that moment, more and more of the claims made by alarmists sounded suspicious to me, especially as I found facts that spoke to how old the Earth is and how much its systems can oscillate. I felt that the changes to weather patterns that I was witnessing were less frightening than some people frantically insisted.

When I believed that the carbon dioxide level was like a control knob on the Earth’s temperature, I became an avid cyclist because I wanted to reduce my environmental footprint. I wondered why no high-profile alarmists tried to push the most efficient form of transportation as part of the solution. If I had the fame and fortune of Al Gore, David Suzuki or Leonardo DiCaprio at the time, I would have toured the world by bicycle to promote clear air, healthy lifestyle, and sustainable urban planning. I understand that many people are unable or unwilling to ever ride a bike anywhere for any reason, but most people are able to bike to some of their destinations and most people have been on at least one pleasant bike ride in their lives. Could a significant number of people be convinced to change some of their transportation habits? We don’t know because none of the jet-setting hypocrite/megastars who insist that we must be burdened with another tax have tried to make a high-profile bicycle journey.

Rich and famous alarmists have different ideas about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rather than encouraging people to voluntarily use the least energy intensive mode of transportation, so-called action on climate change is mostly mandatory and directed at the least most energy intensive mode of transportation. Bumbling, out-of-touch politicians who refuse to debate the issue are making decisions about the economy that have already destroyed businesses and threaten many more enterprises including non-profit organizations and public institutions.

The alarmist movement not only expects us to believe that there is nearly unanimous scientific support for the theory of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change, but they also expect us to adopt the extremely expensive and occasionally ridiculous solutions.

Replacing the entire global automobile fleet and electricity generation systems is an enterprise on an epic scale. Vast sums of money will be spent and governments will do a lot of the spending. Governments will interfere in the economy in general much more than they do now.

Carbon credits distort the free market. They make otherwise outlandish pursuits financially feasible. I remember seeing a fellow on TV describe his plan to build a flotilla of ships that will go out to sea and take life-giving CO2 out of the air and freeze it into a torpedo shape before dropping into the deep ocean where it would supposedly stay frozen forever. Only the economic shell game of carbon credits could allow someone to get paid to do something as crazy as trying to filter an important trace gas out of the atmosphere and put it someplace where plants can never use it, because we must fear this very beneficial warming period; because we must feel guilty that our good fortune to might be a side effect of human prosperity.

Calgary installed cycle tracks on several streets for about 5 or 6 million dollars (which is relatively tiny compared to other infrastructure projects)(it was completed under-budget). Meanwhile rich industrialists get billions of dollars in subsidies to build electric cars which perpetuate automobile dependency, urban sprawl, energy consumption and spending on the massive system of streets bridges and highways required to accommodate North American car culture. Excuse me if I see a more of a business deal than real environmental policy.

TOP GUN was a recruiting tool that succeeded in increasing interest in the US Armed Forces. After 9/11, Americans were urged to spend and invest to stimulate the shocked economy. They did exactly that. How many people would peddle to some of their destinations if there was some there was a half decent effort to show the world how great bike rides can be? How many people would adopt an inconvenient commute that only required an affordable bicycle and some decent pavement that is clear of snow and ice?

One of the many reasons that I suspect Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change is about money is because there is so much money involved.