George Will on global warming

Actually, Ragu, I was commenting on JDV's use of logic.

But yes, I think you're just like Hitler. You were both good at the beginning, until you went too far.

Lyman --

There is ample evidence that the current global warming cycle is affecting things that went unchanged through previous ice ages and warming periods. I don't mean to be overly dismissive, but in all honesty, we're past that argument.

And we have to put the restrictions on ourselves first. Clinton has given several in depth speeches about how to do this without harming our economy. Check them out.

 

Not to threadjack, but I just saw this reply and can't let it go.

Oil is bringing tons of money to Nigeria. But it's only going to the politicians. So not only are the average folks not getting money, they're dying decades younger than they should because the government isn't forcing the oil companies to any kind of legitimate environmental standard.

In the Niger Delta, about 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas is burned off daily -- that's the largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the world. Crops won't grow properly. Fish die in the polluted rivers. The rate of cancer has skyrocketed. The vast majority of people in the Niger Delta are poorer today than they were in the 1960s. It's probably one of the worst cases of a resource curse in the world.

And I don't need to ask Nigerians about it (although I actually have asked Ogonis about it several times). I think the fact that many have resorted to kidnapping foreign workers and attempting to destroy oil wells speaks volumes. People with good jobs and good prospects of jobs rarely resort to armed revolt. But, aside from the politicians, the impact of petroleum in the Niger Delta has left the vast majority of Nigerians poorer, sicker and with less prospects than almost anyone else in the world.

 

Not true, my friend. Ask anyone around here... I'm one of the more open-minded liberals when in comes to global warming. I don't think the warming we're seeing now is brought on exclusively by greenhouse gases, for example. I believe a chunk of it is natural.

But I think we can now pretty much all agree that some of the warming is our fault.

Everytime I jump into one of these threads, I ask one the conservatives the simple question: "Do you think greenhouse gasses are good or bad?" And I haven't gotten a straight-up answer out of any of you yet.

But again-- it really doesn't matter. World governments, economies, and the global marketplace are moving ahead on this issue without you.

(And George Will.)

 

I know that. What's your point?

That because scientists are sometimes infallible, then, as Hondo so eloquently put it, "the global warming crowd" is shoving voodoo science down our collective throats?

 

I don't see people saying that. I do see people saying people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Let's clean up our mess before worrying about fixing problems in India and China.

 

The situation in Nigeria is terrible, but closing the oil market is not going to alleviate the crushing poverty there. It will make it work.
The corrupt Nigerian government eats up most of the oil money, and the oil companies bring in a lot of foreign workers.
However, there are Nigerians employed by the oil industry in Nigeria. Not enough, but there are some, and they financially support large extended families.
Further, what money is in circulation comes from the oil industry.
So the lawyer in Port Harcourt, the fish importer in Wari, the hotel owner in Eket - they all rely on money from the oil industry. So, in turn, do the people they support.

 

You also must have been too distracted by the sex, drugs and rock and roll to correctly spell "inquiry."

 

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That because scientists are sometimes infallible, then, as Hondo so eloquently put it, "the global warming crowd" is shoving voodoo science down our collective throats?
[/quote]

If "global warming crowd" has somehow become politically incorrect, I'll gladly change it to "global warming proponents" or some such label.

By the way, haven't heard an answer to one previous question: why did every liberal Senator vote against Kyoto? 95-0 ... had to have included Feinstein, Kerry, Schumer, etc.

 

Not if you check your Oxford English Dictionary it isn't.

 

Uh, Buck.
I think he pointed out at length that the supposition in your final point is pretty damn wrong. The people you cite aren't "supporting" anyone -- except in the sense that the coal barons "supported" the miners in West Virginia back in the 1880's or so.

And hondo -- the answer is because they were wrong.

 

hondo --

The other answer is that it doesn't make the faintest damn bit of difference.

How come you and Lyman are the only ones who ever bring up Kyoto? The rest of us are past it.

Let's start talking about what we can do now.

 

This is the U.S. bub. My Webster's New World College Dictionary, fourth edition ("defining the English language for the 21st century") states: "in-quiry ... 1. The act of inquiring. 2. an investigation or examination. 3. a question; query."

You may return to eating your paste.