A few more things to add to the ponder list: Of the daily petroleum usage on average 66% are in products that do not go into our gas tanks.

http://www.anwr.org/features/oiluses.htm

So in order to change our behaviors we will have to change a large amount of our standard consumption habits and not just driving. Panty hose, trash bags, shoes, nail polish, pillows, anesthetics, tires, floor wax and just about anything else related to plastics would also have to be altered in usage to decrease our petroleum consumption.

Can our politicians get the people of the world to change their behaviors? Highly unlikely. My wife is from a different country (Asian continent). To the majority of the world, Americans are arrogant and should mind their own business and butt out.

So when we can fix things here first so that we are modeling good and balanced fiscal, environmental, energy, and all the other methods of operation, then we might earn the right to say something.

Side detail – Pollution and the “Global Warming” are not related. The “Global Warming” is supposedly caused by greenhouse gases. However, the main greenhouse gases are water vapor along with other trace amounts such as CO2 and methane.

Cows belch the largest amount of methane into the air. Termites fart the largest amount of methane. Water vapor is not a pollutant. CO2 is not a pollutant. Both are needed as intricate parts of the ecosystem and plant development.

The topic is a highly complex one that can’t be solved by posturing politicians. They’ve yakked about energy policy since 1977 but have done nothing. It is time for them to get out of our way and give the American people a chance to be innovative once again.

And that’s my final answer!

I don’t have the time to respond to all your points (it’s quite late), but my final resonse is this:

Even if “Global Warming” is not a scientific “fact” yet, from what I have seen there is more evidence showing that humans are making a negative impact on the planet than not. It’s certainly a problem and the people in this country need to change their behaviours accordingly. We can only strive to be a leader in this movement, as you are correct, the rest of the world has more impact than we do.

Unfortunately, this means that we will have to in part trust politicians, as the average American does not have the power or influence to reach out to the other citizens of the world to get them to change their behaviours and policies.

Hehehe

You can address your mother on this topic but bear in mind that each state and each school district and in some cases each school in a district have different value sets. I’ve worked in 3 districts and a number of different schools and it all depends upon the State’s Dept. of Ed values, the Superintendent of each district, Curriculum Director and then the Principal as to what is taught and reinforced.

As for commercials, my family and I do not care for the TV or Cable. We too busy living life. So I’ll pass on the commercials.

As far as both parties working together, that would be an ideal thing provided they stay within the framework of the Constitution. Also, the phrase “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill applies.” You do not fix a perceived problem if it hasn’t be determined if it really is a problem yet.

I do not disagree on your statements about being dutiful in your writing for your audience. It takes an organized person to keep tabs on all related articles written. But at the same time there are 3 related articles listed in his Top Posts located to the right of your last entry.

Regarding your last paragraph and request. I have read both sides of the argument. I’m also a science geek and I’ve read the science reports behind it as well.

Any real scientist should be a skeptic until there are definitive proven facts that stand up to observation, experimentation and analysis. Global Warming has not met those standards of provable fact. It is a topic of high contention. It is not on par with the statement 2 atoms of Hydrogen bond with 1 atom of Oxygen to make one molecule of water. We know that to be true.

Is climate change real? Of course it is. The climate has always been in a state of flux since the beginning of the planet no matter if you believe it is an old or young earth. Depending on where you live on the planet, you may have 2 or 4 seasons and numerous changes on a day to day basis.

Is pollution a major problem? Yep, always will be. More people on the planet means more resources needed and more pollution produced. The USA has made significant strides in cleaning our part up. But we only have 300 million (or so) of the 6.7 billion people on the planet living here.

Nothing is wrong with recycling, using cleaner or diversified energy sources, or teaching kids to be conscious of it provided that is what is happening. But from the reports on Dateline and reading the curriculum promoted, that is wishful thinking not reality.

Is Global Warming true? Reading all the sides including the data regarding the impact of oceans, the sun, standard cyclical patterns, inaccurate data measurements due to compromised systems, faulty computer programs and other heating and cooling periods that took place long before the human race was industrialized, and a heck of a lot more has led me to conclude real science has a lot of work to do to figure it all out. This is not the time for politicians to open their traps on the topic. Science does not operate by “consensus” it operates by provable facts. Of the things not proven are whether or not CO2 is harmful or beneficial. On top of that, the amount of CO2 produced by the entire population on the globe is equivalent to the width of a dime on a 100 yard football field. The likelihood anything political we do in the USA will have even the slightest dent on a global atmospheric scale is incredibly remote. Gotta remember there are 6 billion other people on the planet who do not live in the USA.

What the concept of Global Warming does strike a glaring similarity to are the goals of the Humanist Manifesto Version II signed in 1973. It is in there where the concept of the environment being global is espoused not science. Much of what is going on today in USA politics is outlined there.

In this age of global economics, doing anything further to hinder business and production in this country will only ensure a quick fall from superpower status. “Cap and trade” or the recent Lieberman bill supported by Obama and McCain would cap our economy and trade away business to other countries. Yah know, the countries who have more people and don’t give a hoot about the environmentalists from here.

Do we have a moral obligation to stem the damage done? Yup, that goes with being good stewards of the planet we were given. Trusting politicians who rarely operate based on morals to solve it is foolish.