THANKYOU for a most timely and insightful article!

Global warming is something that Bush and some politicians don't believe or want to acknowledge - but that DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT that it's occurring and that we're making worse!  (We might even be causing it! - the "nay-sayers" can't offer a single scientific study to say that we're not).

But blame aside - global warming is something that's affecting ALL OF US - IT DOESN"T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE WHICH POLITICAL PARTY YOU BELONG TO).

WE ALL need to make sure our next president and congress actually does something constructive to curb global warming!

To date, voting records show republicans tend to block efforts to curb global warming and block the development of non-polluting renewable energy - while democrats have tended to support those efforts.

I BELIEVE THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SHOULD ACT TO END OUR DEPENDANCE ON OIL AND GAS, AND ACT TO REDUCE OUR IMPACTS ON GLOBAL WARMING - NO MATTER WHO GETS ELECTED!

I've yet to hear Gore's comments (or excuses) for the nine rather serious factual errors in Inconvenient Truth which were confirmed by British courts and must now be included when the film is used in public schools there.

I'll consider watching his ads when he takes responsibility for the egregious factual errors in his film.

Good commercial, but it makes me cringe that it calls for clean energy AND reduced energy costs.  I'm sorry, but those two are mutually exclusive for the time being!  Either you want cheap energy from a dirty source, or you are willing to pay a little more and buy clean energy.  Can't have both... YET.  We're working on it though ;)

Factual errors or not Sjefke, the worlds climate is changing and not for the better. Instead of accusing Al Gore for discrepancies we should applaud him for bringing this problem to the forefront of many debates. We need to stop using fossil fuels and as soon as possible not whine on about What is wrong in Gores ads. Grow up why don't you!

Egregious or not, the facts are out there. Fisheries are dying at an alarming rate, one half of all Mammal species are in decline with close to a quater facing extinction. Droughts in places where there has been little or no droughts; while places where drought is a fact of life are now sprouting into forests. Go ahead and try and denying the facts. We tried this stance in WWII, Vietnam and now in Iraq, denying the truth that nothing was happening or that we could walk over the "so called enemy." This is an environmental war. If we loose this the consequences are much higher than any one could imagine.

What we cannot ignore is the fact that Al Gore has to be held to the same standards that anyone else (George Bush included)has to be held to.  If he or anyone else knowingly or unknowingly uses falsehoods to support their theories, the whole theory becomes suspect.  The fact that Al Gore used falsehoods and that thousands of scientists do not support the current beliefs about global warming should make all of us want to investigate the subject more before investing trillions of dollars to fight something that may or may not actually exist.  Something is happening but is a natural occurance or something man made.  Instead of politicizing this, a lot of research needs to be done and some tough questions answered by people with trully open minds.

Im not jet setting all over the country like gore is either. And were going to burn stuff anyway thats what we do burn stuff.

I actually find this entire issue rather amusing in addition to man made Global Warming. Sure the average temperature is slowly rising, however, this is a natural process that trumps anything we can do. In addition, very little criticism is directed to China and India which have very little if any environmental regulations. Factories and Power Plants do not have CO2 scrubbers or practically any device to reduce emissions.

The United States is not only dependent on foreign oil but on foreign manufactured products. This leads to a great deal of hypocrisy as foreign manufactured goods are produced in factories that lack basic environmental protection equipment. The entire stop global warming fad is riddled with hypocrisy and distorted information in an effort to achieve political gain. Fear is a powerful tool, it seems as though both political parties use it abundantly.

In addition, most of the arguments presented here, especially with regards to Global Warming are regurgitations of what policy makers and, well, Al Gore has said. (i.e. Rick)

Amazingly enough the human race has survived a wide variety of climate change in its history but for some reason people feel that with all our technology we will somehow succumb to what our club wielding ancestors were able to overcome.  Instead of spewing doom and gloom, how about looking at ways that we can take advantage of a changing climate? How much more new crop land will be available versus the amount lost to (insert your favorite calamity here), etc.?
We should be putting all of this time, effort and money into looking at ways to take advantage instead of blaming ourselves for what is occuring naturally.

Daily Tech has an article from this year about global cooling: http://www.dailytech.com/Temperature+Monitors+Report+Worldwide+Global+Cooling/article10866.htm
Take a look at who stands to make the most money from "Global Warming" and then look at who is pushing the message the most.  

Dan, I disagree entirely.  Dirty energy is only cheap because we give the coal and oil industries so many tax subsidies solar and wind do not get and because tax payers are responsible for all the clean up costs associated with pollution (acid rain damaging crops and metal structures, mercury pollution reducing tourism, asthma, etc).

Wind power is cheaper then coal power, it just doesn't look that way on our bill.  But believe me, we pay a heck of a lot more in the way of taxes to make our energy bill look cheap. Either way though, we are still paying.

1) Al Gore is a hypocrit and should not be celebritized for making things appear worse than they are

2) I have no problem with recycling, using alternative energy, etc, but its not something we can change overnight...

3) Why is the US always spending the most money to fight this when no one else cares....

For those of you who still don't buy global warming, I'm not going to try to convince you; however, if we follow a plan towards clean energy, at worst we end up with greater energy independence, stronger national security, and improved public health and therefore lower health costs (thousands die annually from pollution via cancer and lung ailments). These benefits are economical since we end up importing less oil (reduces the cost of oil plus military obligations so also reduces national security costs), saves on health costs, improves public health, improves energy price stabilization, and it creates more jobs right here in the USA. Even if you don't believe in global warming, there are plenty of good economical and moral reasons why you should support the switch to clean energy.

Global cooling is largely a crackpot notion tossed around in the 70's by those who did not fully understand the dynamics of global cooling. Scientists, by large, do not support the global cooling notion. The scientific evidence is totally to the contrary.

Here is the part of this debate that troubles me the most - what does it hurt to do something?  Regardless of whether China or India do it or whether we are truly having an affect or not one fact cannot be disputed - we are polluting our enviroment.  Even if global warming does not exist, do you not want to do something about pollution in our air, water, food, etc?  

If we were to start a movement to produce cleaner energy and limit our use of fossil fuels is there really any downside?  Even if you invented a car today that ran on nothing but saltwater, it would take 10 or 15 years for all of our gas burning cars to finally be removed from the road.  We are not going to put all car manufacturers out of business the day after the breakthrough in technology.  So what is the problem?

it will take decades to get all residences and businesses to get off of fossil fuels.  So where is the harm in starting?

We are still going to run out of oil at some point - whether in 20 years or 100 years.  It will happen.  Oil is a finite commodity.  What is the harm of starting to prepare early?

By starting to transform our economy and society now, we accomplish a few long term goals - eliminating our dependence on oil (especially foreign oil), there would be no need to drill in ANWR or anywhere else, we start the transition of our economy which by necessity will include manufacturing jobs to build the necessary equipment for the new economy and we help clean up the enviroment sooner rather than later.

You cannot complain about China and India with any sort of moral authority.  We took roughly 150 years developing our economy on coal and oil.  China and India are a few decades at most.  Why shouldn't others be allowed the same as us?  And do you not think that as we develop technology and the price comes down that China and India will want to buy it?

What is wrong with creating an entire industry that couldn't even be called "in its infancy" at this point in time into a major world player as only America can do?  We have invented almost every major technology for the past 100 years or so.  Do you think that is going to end now?

Again, what is the harm in starting to prepare for it now instead when the discomfort will be really painful?  We are going to get there eventually, maybe even in our lifetimes.  Where is the harm in preparation and proactivity?

I didn't realize Al Gore was behind these ads.  I thought that An Inconvenient Truth was very well done, but he loses some respect in my eyes for sponsoring these ads.

Free us from our addiction to oil?  You might as well ask the government to free you from your addiction to alcohol or crack cocaine.  Why do people seem to think that the government should solve all our problems?  It seems like every time the government interferes in something, it makes the problem worse.  What ever happened to personal responsibility?

Free us from our addiction?  Please.  Free yourself.

Based on what I have seen in the past from Mr. Gore I can tell when he's telling a lie: His lips are moving.

Al Gore and Canada’s David Suzuki are nothing more than 21st century Bolsheviks

Common sense, a limited resource among Republicans, tells us that we can't just keep doing what we're doing because it's to inconvenient to do otherwise. I suggest that if you think coal is clean that you try using it to heat your home this winter and then think again. Then try breathing what comes out your tailpipe and tell me it's not a problem if 500,000,000 cars and trucks, etc are spewing this stuff into the air around the clock. Blaming Gore is sticking your head in the sand!

Actually the global climate is NOT warming, the temperature readings are badly skewed due to poor placement of the weather stations in urban areas, near parking lots and at airports, plus the loss of many that were located in cooler climes like Siberia.
Algore is REALLY a hypocrit because he is heavily invested in a company that stands poised to reap huge profits from "carbon trading". Also if global warming is such a problem and the ocean is going to rise 20 feet, why did Algore buy property on the ocean front in Florida. He's a politician, is his mouth moving?, then he's lying again. Nothing like a little propaganda to whip-up the masses into a panic.

Nicely said, KnSD. Regardeless of whether or not you think global warming is the result of our use of fossil fuels, the pollution it creates is undeniable. Whatever your stance is, a gradual switch to cleaner energy will improve the environment's health as well as (and more importantly) everyone's health.

If you haven't noticed its been warming up every since the last ice age.  Some people think we can change nature but guess what evry time man tries to control or change nature, he is tilting at windmills, making nothing better.  When we figure out how to make it snow or rain in the desert or how to make the sun shine longer in the winter months maybe we will have some hope of controlling something.  We can't even control our own banking system or our government.  They do whatever they want no matter how much we complain.  Gore is just trying to become rich and famous by selling us snake oil.

HELLO!?  The glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising, hurricanes are growing more fierce, species of animals are being wiped out, ...  and John Murray wants to "take advantage" of this???

I don't think you understand the situation Mr. Murray.

I personally believe the science behind global warming that says man is mostly to blame.  For those who say it's a natural cause, I have to wonder where they're getting this.  Is the Bible their source?  The Bush administration has purposefully censored scientific data from public release on global warming and the Pentagon considers it a major threat to our national security, yet we still have people who don't want to believe.  As for those who think the "government" shouldn't be involved and that's it a matter of individual choices:  the reason Gore is getting the public behind it, is because only the public can force our elected officials to change PUBLIC POLICY.  Public policy is what gives carbon producing industries tax breaks over renewables, gives subsidies over renewables, taxes gas so that roads are built instead of mass transit and increases fuel efficiency standards, to name a few things.  Government is the only method by which society can set the rules in which business can play...and that will need to be global carbon caps and/or trading schemes to solve this crisis.  Our society has been forced to innovate in the past, with only greater wealth creation from the new technologies that were brought.  We should be well past the point of denigrating the messenger (Al Gore) when the message is clear.

I'm not a big fan of Al Gore. Factual errors aside, he used an 'Inconvenient Truth' to whine about losing in 2000.  The rules of the Electoral College were explained to me as a grade schooler.  That being said, these ads and this call to green energy I find to be inspirational.  I'm glad he didn't bother running for pres and is sticking to the environmental issues.  Whether or not climate change is man made, it's a worthy cause to find more efficient means of producing energy. This will create high paying jobs to replace the jobs lost in other industries-and energy tech is certain to move us forward.

That being said, don't think it is sifficient to change our habits to combat climate change.  It is very possible that this is a natural phenomenon that we have no control over.  If that is the case, we would be wise to find ways to adapt to the new climate lest we are wiped away-with the religious right going back to heaven and the liberal left saying 'told you so'.  Either side you're on, you're dead.

In all of this debate, one thing seems to be lost.  The most important thing we are supposed to be doing on this planet is taking care of each other with an appreciation for who each of us is.  We will not be able to achieve anything of lasting effect until we start to realize that the basis of everything we do must be this important truth.  

GLOBAL WARMING IS A REALITY. IT IS CAUSED BY THE VARIATIONS IN THE SUN'S RADIATION. PREPARATION FOR THE CONSEQUENSES AND THREATS TO THE EARTH'S HABITATION IS REQUIRED, NOT TRYING TO PREVENT IT BY ASSOCIATING IT WITH CO2.

This ad is only effective on stupid people who can't think for themselves.  Have us on alternative fuel in 10 years?  Please, why don't we have a serious debate about Gore's plan and it attendant economic and social ramifications.  Besides "carbon spewing energy producers" are NOT the Bad guys, they are the ones actually providing you energy to live you plush daily life.  You and others like you have no idea of the environmental measures that are taken by these companies to provide a good, reliable source of fuel for society at a relatively inexpensive price.  Grow up and try not to be enamored with all the glitzy advertising like a teenager watching mtv, report on something that matters like what this new environmental facism is going to cost us.

After reading a lot of these comments, I can see that the ostrich population isn't in any danger of going extinct anytime soon!

Al Gore was an idiot before the ads. Nothing has changed. He's just trying to get people to believe the global warming myth so he and his environalmentalist friends can make a quick buck. his is the evolutionist theory of earth. Don't worry, God is still in charge and the facts Gore uses are tainted at best.

drill here, drill now and use it all here.  and get wind, solar, and hydro increasingly used.  but please, no more algore and man-caused global warming.  only about 3% of annual carbon dioxide output is from burning fossil fuels.  the earth warms and cools.  currently we are in a warming cycle and it is almost 100% caused by solar activity.  increased solar activity heats the earth, releasing vast amounts of stored carbon dioxide from the oceans, permafrost and plant life decaying.  Ever opened a can of warm pop?  now do the same with a can of cold pop.  notice the difference in bubbles?  case closed.

The best (and only) thing Gore could have done is gett off his butt and fought like heck for those 537 votes, thereby "freeing" us from eight years of tyranny.

Mr. Rick and all those who say "we are definately causing this", and "There isn't a single piece of scientific evidence to suggest the contrary" etc.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/sun_output_030320.html

No reasonable person is arguing that the climate isn't warming (recently), but the climate has been colder and warmer than it is today, and the root cause is NOT certain.  True, greenhouse gasses can amplify the effect, but it isn't universally accepted as the cause.

Also, rain is the best way of scrubbing CO2 out of the atmosphere.  The earth was able to do it once, and it can do it again.

Stop politicizing this, and let the scientists do their job.

Thank you for even this little bit of reporting on our environment.

The fact is that the environment can't wait anymore. We must take dramatic action now to save ourselves from environmental as well as economic meltdown.

The good news is that we can do both at the same time if the next administration will only pay attention to works like The New Apollo Alliance (http://apolloalliance.org/).  We can have clean energy and green jobs!  This only makes sense because the economy and the environment are absolutely connected!

From "This Stock Collapse Is Petty When Compared to the Nature Crunch",by George Monbiot (http://www.monbiot.com/) "The two crises have the same cause. In both cases, those who exploit the resource have demanded impossible rates of return and invoked debts that can never be repaid. In both cases we denied the likely consequences."

75% of man kind is living near the sea coasts world wide. The oceans are rising do the math. I think the cost of continuing down our current road is more illness, more species lost plant and animal(glad the ostrich will survive). We're paying dearly for not addressing the problems facing us now. As for hurting the economy I think there has to be an economy before it can be hurt. If memory serves me we shipped all our well paying manufacturing jobs overseas to become service oriented society it would be nice for us to become a world leader again and a country the rest of the world looks up to again.

Call me stupid for thinking cleaner air with less pollution is anything but economic stimulus. Then again fear is better than the truth any day. Personally I love giving all my money over to pay for energy that is trying to kill me. Its only more expensive up front to use green energy. But if we go down that road I guess the government would go broke as no one would have to pay taxes on every drop or kw of energy used.

Burnburnburn has always been mankinds answer to everything. War has always brought all kind of new technology. So we can better destroy each other. Warmer or colder is not the problem harmony is. Mother earth has provided for alot longer than any of us can comprehend. She has no fear of destroying to protect herself. The earth has recreated life many times already decimating as much as 95% of the previous life cycle. We are all goners when she decides to let it rip again. I wonder if there will be anyone left to carry on the legends of us like those who survived Atlantis' time or the mammoths time before them.

Just because the Kyoto Protocol steps on George Bush's toes and those of his oil-goonie friends, doesn't mean it stops the rest of the world from caring. About 1/2 of the people on this comment board understand and care.  Perhaps we need an educational survey with that too. .... Noone cares? Gore jet-setting? No environmental restrictions in China and India?  Why don't you find out how Gore flies?  He does not have or use a private jet. Developing nations have environmental restrictions that are slowly becoming stronger over time. As a simple example, China has banned plastic bags.  South Africa caught on to the wise movement in 2003. Taiwan taxes the bags, and the cities of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Mumbai, India, ban them to prevent flood-inducing storm-drain clogs during monsoon season.  To reduce use and help the environment (and now raising funds too) plastic sacks are taxed in Italy and Belgium. Grocery shoppers must pay for the bags if they want to use them in Switzerland, Germany, and Holland. Spain, Norway, and now the U.K. are considering a ban.

Even China has more stringent auto pollution laws than the US for cars!

Considering China's industrial/technological revolution in progress, they are not doing too bad. China is doing much better than the US and the British did based on population (although the world is not really able to cope with a nation so populous as China going through an industrial and technological revolution).   ... Get informed.  Follow up.  Why not learn about the NEP-ETB, UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring, just for example, and find out how much work developing nations as well as new superpowers, like China and India, are investing in sustainable initiatives and programs and policies that least impact biological diversity and the environment. They have their problems (many huge) just like us.  However, they are working on it.  And ... why would British schools show "An Inconvenient Truth" (even with mods if so made) if noone considered it worthy for squat?  

Global Warming and greenhouse gas emissions is the greatest (economic and National Security) Risk our nation and world has ever faced.  Unlike Palin, I believe in Global Warming and problems warned about by Nobel Science Winners for the last 30+ years. The Bush administration has supressed science for 8 long years to further the Bush/Cheney agenda and line pockets.  For those of you who do not understand the magnatude of the problem, READ A BOOK that does not imply the Earth is 4000 to 6000 years old.

Bob, that comment on the book was especially intended for you!

Have any of you people EVER taken a geology class? Try it sometime!
Yes, it is getting warmer - little by little - for now. The warmest (recently) was in the late 30's, the coolest (recently) was in the early 70's. How about the Roman Warm Period, the Maunder Minimum, the Little Ice Age, the Medieval Warm Period? About 1000 years ago it was substantially warmer than it is now. It was warm enough, in fact, the the Vikings farmed Greenland! Thus, as the perimeter ice melts back on Greenland we find Viking farmsteads that have been under the ice for some time. The Little Ice Age a couple hundred years ago, the Mississippi was frozen hard enough at St. Louis to drive fully loaded freight wagons across the ice.
Don't some of you people ever read anything to do with Earth's history? There have been at least 6 major warm periods in shown in the ice core records - all of which were warmer than it is now. Polar Bears survived just fine.
The global temperture changes all the time - there is NO STABLE CLIMATE, never has been. 35 years - 30's to 70's, 35 years 70's to now. Guess what!!!!!!!! Little, if any, warming for the last few years. 2005 may have been the turning point.
Carbon Dioxide is not a problem. Yes, it is a 'greenhouse gas'. However, it is a minor greenhouse gas. Methane and water vapour are much more potent greenhouse gasses. It is, however, easy to TAX carbon. Not so with water vapour. If you control the carbon, you control the energy. If you control the energy, you control the economy. If you control the economy, you control the people. PERIOD.
If Gore is so concerned, why is his power bill 30 times what mine is? Why does he burn energy like there is no tomorrow. Oh! But he buys carbon credits.
Yes! He buys carbon credits - from himself, and sells them to himself, and makes a profit every time a carbon credit is bought or sold. Damn! Wish I'd of thought of that.
Wake up! Gore is a liar! He has never answered the challenges to his Inconvenient BS - Never Will! He can't.
Anyone dumb enough to believe his BS or to vote for the, now, most popular socialist ever, deserves what the are asking for. Best of Luck!

M W, Madison AL -
Don't blame Kyoto on Bush! He CAN'T do anything about it because Clinton already signed the accord, then did nothing about it.
Good Thing! It's a work of complete CRAP.
The so-called 'scientists' who "work for" the UN and "won" the Nobel prize? Find out just what their credentials are.
The debate can't be over - since it was never held!
Tens of thousands of real earth scientists have refuted all the claims many time over.  Too bad it's 'politically incorrect' the use real science.
I have figured out why it is that it is so hard to argue the climate alarmists. You see, it takes 30 to 45 minutes to lay the ground work for a real scientific argumentment - the attention span of the average 'knee-jerk, climate alarmist' is only 3-5 minutes. That's why all of poor little crying polar bear babies and poor little drowning seal vid-bites are so short.
If you disagree with my beliefs - GOOD! Hope you do a little study and learn a few things. But, please, do take a real scientific approach instead of the alarmist approach.
Be safe! Seek Truth!

I wonder what the carbon foot print is of the manufacturing plants producing wind industry machinery.  I wonder what the carbon foot print is of the construction machinery to build wind farms.  What about the carbon foot print of agriculture supply crops for ethanol.  What about the foot print of machinery to produce hydropower?  

I am proud to be one of a huge number of people that paid for this ad - lots of little $25 donations.  It isn't just Al Gore's ad it's OUR ad and every time it plays I feel proud.  And it isn't really to the "government" -- it is expressing and opinion to all leaders that we hope will listen and watch and really pay attention.

I am comforted to see that prudent rational people seem to out number "kneejerk reactionist".

to you who feel we as a society are effecting this? To actually think out loud that we are capable of affecting this, global warming, upon the planet!!
How do we compare to what a volcanic eruption spews into the atmosphere? i know that for many whom i pose that simple question to my time would be better spent speaking to the coffee cup beside me as i write.

To the prudent and rationale people let us continue to hope and pray that our numbers remain equal to the reactionist

I've had the privilege of seeing Al Gore speak in person.  Without a doubt, one of the best public speakers I've ever experienced.

From his explanation, each summer a portion of the polar ice cap is still frozen solid during the warmer weather.  I forget the specifics, but in the last 10 years or less, the cap has gone from the size of 47 of the 48 continental states, to the size of 36 states, to the size of those states east of the Mississippi.  In less than 5 years there will be no frozen polar ice cap during the summer months.  This ice cap has existed and been a mile or however thick for thousands of years.  A rapid change like this does not occur due to 'nature' or 'natural' causes.

The scary part is that this will continue to accelerate.  Ice reflects sunlight and therefore heat.  What this means is that as more ice melts, less heat is reflected, so more heat is absorbed by the surrounding water.  This causes the whole process to continue to pick up speed.

Somewhere I saw an article (last 2 years) concerning a survey of government scientists.  Over half said there findings had been altered or were encouraged to tone down.  Office of Management and Budget was most often listed.  If I'm not mistaken, this office is most closely linked to the Oval Office.

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/hundreds-of-epa-scientists-0112.html

Regardless of whether one believes the scientific data or not, how can you deny the large glaciers calving off the size of states.  Or species being seen hundreds of miles further North than ever before?
This, to me, is evidence that speaks volumes without even having to understand the underlying causes.

Oil, coal, gas, etc. are all finite resources.  Sooner or later, we will run out.  Is it better to start developing alternatives now, while we still have these resources, or wait until they're completely expended.

China has more stringent auto emission laws than the US?

MW, you have never been to China.

For pity's sake --- why does no one seriously consider the potential of the near limitless carbon sink that "Thermal depolymerization" can provide folks scream lets do something then walk round doing nothing.

Tom, you're right! We burn stuff, and that's why I;m glad to be in Alaska where we have plenty of stuff to burn. We got lots of forest, oil, and natural gas! People ask why I moved here, because we do have soooo much to burn, and we don't have millions of people to fight over it. I hope we can continue to support ourselves while the rest of the country fights over what to do about this problem. I'm voting for someone who knows how to go for the oil. Show me the OIL!!!!

All this talk of ostrich is making me hungry, lets all go to McDonalds and eat away at our problem. For some dinner conversation lets attack each others personal and religious beliefs. Take a serious look at this issue, with as intelligent as most of us think we are we should easily be able to think. It comes down to two main ideas.

Number one: economy of scale. Ten years is nothing more than a dream. Every attempt to make clean energy will be fought by tens of millions of people from both the right and the left. The green parties of this planet can't even agree on what is considered "clean" energy, and that is one of their primary platforms. So as it was said get this issue out of politics and back into the lab.

Number two: On a seriousness scale of one to ten global warming is a -10. The planet is not a static environment the temperature will go up and will go down in cycles. Deal with it and plan accordingly. Even as he was mocked Murray has a good point. Instead of spend huge amounts of time, money, and energy on something as stupid as global warming, spend all that on something that matters.

Wow! I see the paid astroturfers are out today. Let's play a game!  Spot the posters who are paid to be here... Get bonus points when you spot the same person using multiple handles!

Oh, my! I'm so overwhelmed with your warm and fuzzy feelings about Al "no science is good science" Gore and his over-hyped, self-promoting, climate angst. Speaking of "manipulation" - your description, not mine - that's what Al is all about. Always has been, always will be. A gold star hypocrite if there ever was one. And you folks are his tool. Get smart, please!

A few months ago I read an article on MSN where a proponet of global warming said and I quote "We could make all of the changes we have talked about and it won't make a significant difference, but we should go ahead and do it anyway" I wish I could find the article now.  This is where I see a problem.  Why should we do any of this stuff if it won't even matter.  Talk about wasting money. The problem with global warming is we do not have a long enough history of studies to make a determination about the earths atmosphere.  IF the earth has been here for millions of years you can't tell me tell me about global warming when you have less than 100 years of research data.  Essentially your picking up a spec information from a history that people claim is millions of years.  The same people that used to claim its global cooling, now its warming.  There have been multiple warming and cooling trends but they can tell the difference.  Even though they didn't have any instruments 100,000 years ago to measure anything and compare that data with today.  At best that means they have to make an educated guess or an estimate.

Make smaller cars, curb electricity usage, use more solar power generation, or wind power, but do so in a way that makes economic sense, gradually.  And I would point out it is all useless unless you can get China and every other large country to follow suit.  Without them you are only seeking to encourage the decline of America.

An Inconvenient truth is aptly named.  The reason this topic receives so much heated debate and climate change is so disputed-- inconvenience!  If Americans (yes I do single us out) could get over their sense of entitlement we would be in a much better position to discuss this matter as thinking adults.  Soccer moms do not need a chevy Suburban to make their grocery runs.  Average families (and the wealthy) do not need to live in large houses which put a terrible burden on local resources.  Just because tackling an issue seems tough is no excuse. (Hey, I don't want to go to work this am)  For so long I have listened to the older generations dismiss this issue because it contradicts their world view that we can do no wrong.  Goodness, that smacks more of procrastination than legitimacy.  As a father who plans ahead for my childrens' future, I firmly believe in  the fundamental values of leaving a better situation for our kids.  Whatever your political affilition, economic status, and RELIGION, step up!  Let us start tackling problems head on rather than diputing details.  You wonder where politicians take their lead-- they must answer to their constituencies.  We as a whole need to come to the table and establish some common ground that we can all agree to and then act.  We have talked long enough.  For those of you who are religious, remember humility in the face of the lord next time you make a significant purchase.  The earth is a blessing.  Who are we to disfigure it and subject it to OUR will.  Nurture your world, country, state, city, community, and your family.  

I do not trust propaganda and recognize it for what it is (please educate yourselves).  But how can any of us deny what our bodies tell us.  Pollutants cause our bodies harm and illness (go for a run on the street and then do the same in the forest).  Now how do you feel?

Please, fellow Americans, be responsible in your individual choices.  Choose humility over your ego.  You do not need the big cars, the big houses.  You are not entitled.  Be thankful for life.  Celebrate and nuture ALL living things.  Lessen your impact (no, smaller tires on your Hummer does not count).  

Live Simply So That Others May Live

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):