So California wants to sue major auto makers for damages suffered
due to greenhouse gas emissions. Hm interesting. A few days ago I read
the story and wondered what impact this will have on the scientific
debate. At first glance I think it will be detrimental. I know that
California may be trying to force the auto industry to do what it
considers to be the “right” thing,which would be to lower greenhouse
emissions in automobile exhausts. However, it is also asking for
damages. The net result will be that the auto industry will likely wage
a blistering campaign against the “science” of global warming, and the
consequences could be devastating.Unlike cigarette smoke which is
believed to “cause” cancer, and which has a direct impact on real
people that one can see, hear, and feel, the greenhouse phenomenon is
little more than an interesting news real. Yes you can hear things like
“Katrina drowns New Orleans” and for awhile people get real scared, and
maybe just maybe for awhile they think they want to look into the
greenhouse thingy. But then they hear that New York is going to turn
into a ninety degree hot house in December and they think, “hey what a
great turn of events…we can swim in Coney island in December, better
than shoveling snow, no?” Point is that unlike cigarettes and tar and
nicotine (all theories with some statistical implications) greenhouse
just doesnt have the gore and real pain of lung cancer. Greenhouse
gasses really dont scare me or anyone else quite that way-not yet.
Yes a disaster could happen tomorrow(especially if core warming is
also true) and yes that would mean real big changes from top to bottom,
but unless we get a dramatic event that is likely to be repeated it is
unlikely that the population will be moved in the same way. What
California has done makes the problem much much more difficult. Why you
might ask, well cause now there’s money in it!!! Now this thing goes
from theoretical , to scientific data gathering, and obvious
abnormalities in the rate of ice melting at the poles, to hard core
“realistical”. (Yes I know this is a new word, and I want it to be a
cross between real, and fantastical. Strange thing to want.) The ball
game now goes to money, lawsuits, accusations, implications,
conspiracies,theories, politics, movies, print, stories, gossip
columns, soap operas, comedy series, drama series, special reports, and
a whole lotta other things besides real science. When the auto industry
realizes what this might really mean to it’s bottom line, it will try
first and foremost to convince the oil companies that this is something
that can seriously kill their new found lifestyle of kingly living.
Together they will mount a campaign of distortion and misinformation
that could well demolish any hope for the truth. They will likely try
to confuse this issue, and maybe rightfully so.
Personally I just dont think anyone is responsible for this at all
and we should all stop pointing fingers and take co-responsibility for
what has happened. I see so many celebrities crying and whining about
all this stuff, about pollution at first(twenty years ago) about noise
about this that and the other thing, and now finally about the
greenhouse gasses. But you know what? I never see them walking to
California from New York!!! I never see them riding a bicycle! In fact
all of these people on the greenside of things seem to me to be wasting
as much energy as anyone else. And that’s ok. It’s not their fault
either. So if the auto makers fight back at this point, I would not be
surprised, nor would they be expected to do anything else.
The point is: Lets not point fingers here folks. REALLY THIS IS NOT
THE TIME FOR THAT! Accusing each other will not help us at all. It will
make the task at hand much harder than it has to be. We need to slowly
use the power of persuasion to get people to understand what “may” be
happening to our world, and what “may” happen to us if these theories
are true! The task is hard, please do not underestimate it. Look at
what happened this year in the Atlantic Hurricane zones. WHERE ARE THE
CANES? WHERE ARE THE PREDICTED CATASTROPHES? LAST YEAR WAS DEVASTING!
THIS YEAR WAS BALMY AND HAPPY. We have not had a single Hurricane of
any significance in the east! Is that reason to think all this is a
hoax? Anyone who understands the phenomena being played out here knows
all too well that this lull might actually have been expected. It is
not the troughs that kill, it’s those damned Peaks! Next year could be
one of those peak years again. Next year we could be running for cover
again. The media will rise again and point fingers etc etc. The point
is the oscillation will come and go. That is what we expect that is
what we must make the public aware of. We should ask the public,
quietly, with reserve, and some respect(and some humility too) to be
patient, and to be careful not to assume the coast is clear just
because the sun is shining due to a good year. We should ask them to be
cautious and not merely judge the scientific world the way they might
the weatherman. These matters are not in our back pockets. Nature is
calling all the shots here. We should not pretend to be masters of the
situation, because we are NOT!! We know little of what is really going
on, please let us not confuse one another more at such a critical
point. We need to cooperate here as best as we can so as to convince as
many people as possible of the possible dangers that lie in wait due to
climate warming, and CO2 build-up in the atmosphere.
In the end the lawsuit brought on by California will not lend
anything of value to the task at hand, and I really think the people
who brought it up should consider carefully whether what they are doing
is going to be in the better interest of human kind. Accusing,
challenging, and especially suing people will not lead to anything
good. These actions I think will more likely confuse the truth, and
doing this will not serve anyone, least of all the California
legislature which will be accused once again as being the epitome of
unbridled liberalism. We must understand that the battling has to come
to an end and reason, and common sense must begin to prevail if we are
going to stand a chance going into this new, and seemingly troubled
century. I thought like many others that this new century would be
better than the last, but after the past five years, I honestly think it
stands a real good chance to be worse. Lets hope I’m wrong.
As for the Bush administration and it’s percieved sloth or outright
denial of the problem of global warming, I think the real culprit is
our lack of communication with the conservatives. In the end I think
they might be as willing to look carefully at the problem as the
democrats are if they are made aware of the possible dangers to the
economy, and the likelyhood that global warming will tranform most
accumulated wealth of the past two decades to poverty! Showing the
conservatives the potential dangers to their wealth, and to their
social aspirations might perhaps be a better way of convincing them
about Global Warming and it’s dangers. Should we therefore demonstrate
to them that should global warming continue the society they have long
hoped for:a society of freedom, prosperity, and moral continence will
most likely become an unattainable dream that will be replaced by harsh
realities of poverty, social unrest, and likely socialism if they fail
to prepare themselves adequately for such an eventuality. In other
words global warming activists need to talk Bush’s language after all
if they intend to get his help.