“Clean energy” boondoggle

• Climate is constantly changing

• CO2 is not the cause• Warming is no threat• Mandating “clean

energy” would be foolish

• Cartoon says it all

Climate is constantly changing

• Average global temperatures have varied between about 54oF and 72oF over the past 600 million years. For the past 20,000 years, the Earth has been emerging from the most recent in a series of ice ages (during which much of North America, including the northern part of what is now the U.S., was covered by an ice cap).

• The warming trend has been punctuated by shorter-term cool/warm cycles. The present period of warming and the preceding Little Ice Age (from 1300s to mid-1800s), constitute one such cycle. Some earlier warm periods were warmer than the present one. During the Medieval Warm Period, for example, there was farming in Greenland, and grapes were grown in Europe where it is too cool for grapes now. No dramatic problems resulted, e.g. , London wasn't flooded.

• Average global temperatures have risen about 2ø F since 1850, with periods of warming and cooling. The warming trend stopped over the past decade, although there are indications it may now be resuming.

CO2 is not the cause

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a relatively minor component of the atmosphere; it is essential to life as we know it. The primary sources of atmospheric CO2 are ocean biologic activity, volcanoes, decaying plants, and animal activity.

• CO2 levels have been much higher in the past, notably during the Cambrian Period (18X) and Jurassic Period (9X), than at present.

• After remaining fairly constant over the past 10,000 years, atmospheric CO2 has risen from about 280 parts per million (1800) to 380 parts per million (2010). The increase reflects human activities, including burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

• Fossil fuel use during the Medieval Warm Period and earlier warm periods was relatively insignificant, so something else must have caused the warming that was taking place.

CO2 is not the cause, cont’d

• Although both CO2 levels and global temperatures have risen since 1800, the trend lines do not demonstrate a cause and effect relationship.

– Nearly half of the observed warming took place before 1940, whereas about 80% of the CO2 increase took place after 1950.

– CO2 increase has been steady, while the warming trend has been erratic with periodic reversals.

• Water vapor is the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing almost 95% of the greenhouse effect. Most of the greenhouse effect for CO2 comes from the first 20 parts per million in the atmosphere, with additional CO2 having little greenhouse effect.

• Many other factors are known to affect global temperatures, notably the level of solar activity.

Warming is no threat

• When dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the average temperature was considerably higher than it is now. Life flourished nevertheless.

• Conditions during the ice ages would have been unfavorable for human beings, except in the the lower latitudes. And while the Little Ice Age was much warmer than the big ice ages, it was less pleasant than the Medieval Warm period.

• No one can predict future global temperatures with assurance. There may be further warming before another cool period ensues. On the other hand, another big ice age may lie ahead, although it would probably take a few thousand years to develop. Based on what we know, warmer seems better – and scenarios of catastrophic global warming if human beings do not drastically curtail their burning of fossil fuel lack credibility.

Mandating “clean energy” would be foolish

• Global warming alarmists have advocated spending huge amounts of money to replace the existing energy infrastructure (power plants, vehicles, etc.). We don’t want to pay for these ideas through either higher energy prices or taxes.

• Even if a correlation between rising CO2 levels and global warming was conclusively demonstrated, other variables such as the level of solar activity would remain more important. Therefore, cutbacks in the burning of fossil fuels could not be expected to prevent global warming.

• Geo-engineering measures, such as seeding the upper atmosphere with reflective particles, would be far cheaper than a mandated conversion to “clean energy” and more likely to stop global warming. Better be sure the manmade global warming theory is right, however, before implementing such measures!

• The government has more pressing problems to worry about. See the next slide.

• The government cannot afford to subsidize the propo

• At a time when we are facing a financial meltdown, it is a shame to waste money on a doomed effort to affect climate change. The effort is based on the false assumption that CO2 from fossil fuel combustion is the major factor causing global warming. For the real story on climate change, read on.

• The prudent policy now is to address our much shorter term problems, such as the risk of a financial meltdown due to the unfortunate government practice of spending money it does not have.

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Cartoon says it all