Unabashed

On the Global Warming carousel, today we have this bit:

Speaking at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change on Monday, (Weather Channel founder John) Coleman sharply chastised those who further global warming alarmism. Coleman believes that the station he founded has been captured by alarmists, such as the Weather Channel’s Heidi Cullen, who has advocated revoking the license of meteorologists that believe global warming can be explained by cyclical weather patterns and not human activity.

Actually, I’m kind of okay with this either way, for two reasons:

1. It’s a known fact that we’re on the tail end of a mini ice age. Warming would be the trend right now even if humanity had jumped ship a hundred years ago. (That’s not to say I don’t think we’re affecting the climate negatively, I’m just saying that’s the trend according to information I’ve come across).
2. I think it’s in our best interests, regardless of Global Warming, to stop burning fossil fuels. I know the almighty dollar feeds off the price of oil, but damn, smog sucks, whether it’s warming the climate or not. 

And on this topic the one big problem I have is kind of the same problem I have with religion and politics.  People have no tolerance for other people whose opinion, viewpoint or belief differs from their own. Case in point, as pointed out in the article linked to above, Heidi Cullen is advocating revoking the licenses of meteorologists who believe global warming can be explained by cyclical weather patters and not human activity. So…not only do you believe you are right, but you think those who believe otherwise should be punished.

I’ll tell you this, global warming is a fact, and whether we’re causing it or not I could care less. It’s happening, weather patterns are disrupted and it’s just going to keep getting worse (at least until it gets better). I think it’s in our best interests to curb our burning of fossil fuels because it’s pollution, and pollution is bad for us and for the planet, climate change or no. If we stop burning fossil fuels we would be healthier, and the planet would be, too. Of course it would–even if you don’t believe burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming, surely you can see that rainbow streak of oil in the water when you go to the river or lake (where you can fish, but you’d better not eat the fish). Or oil spills–Exxon Valdez… gasoline @ four bucks a gallon and Exxon turning the highest profit margin of any corporation ever. There are plenty of reasons to hate pollution, and global warming is just the latest, controversial topic du jour. So you’ve got to pick your fights, right, I know that, but amidst all this madness and indisputable proofs of the negative effects of pollution, Heidi wants to revoke licenses because people don’t believe the theory she insists on is evident. She wants people punished because they disagree with her opinion. She might as well be in Belfast during the ’80s, at war with the other religion because of their beliefs.  

Pollution is an old problem that’s gotten way, way out of hand. We’ve known it for decades. Whether you believe we’ve impacted global warming or not doesn’t matter to me, because I believe everyone can see the negative effects of pollution. Curb the pollution and you’ve done your duty, and both sides and pat one another on the back and gear up for the coming Ice Age :-)

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: climate, climate change, global warming, Ice Age, meteorologist, meteorologists, pollution