Rationalist confesses a penchant for quackloonery...

[ExPatMatt]

I must admit that my opinion on Man Made Global Warming (MMGW) has changed a lot over recent years.

I started out as strongly agreeing that MMGW was a reality and was really annoyed that more people weren't paying attention to the impending doom of the world.

Around 5 years of propaganda - from both sides - later and now I'm not so sure. There's just to much agenda mixed in with science for anyone without a direct contact in the climatologist community to take an educated stance.

Personally, I think the depletion of sea algae contributes just as much to the changing climate as does the burning of fossil fuels.

Of course, from a practical standpoint, I'm still strongly in favour of diversifying our energy sources and reducing our impact on the planet as much as possible - although I'm enough of a realist to know that that is nigh on impossible these days.

Interesting topic for ranting though...

[StewartP]

I would place myself liberal/libertarian

In the UK I would say in general yes, conservative/agw skepticsm is more closely linked than with the streotypical labour:left wing.

But the conservatives accuse agw of being the latest tool of the left to cripple economies.

yeah, I know.

[BeamStalk]

Matt, you summed up my feelings as well. So for fear of turning this into a global warming discussion I offer this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAu68OsFggw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5weG9Ill ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ictpPrle ... re=related

Carbon Offsets are Bullshit!

[ExPatMatt]

Carbon Offsets are Bullshit!

Of that, I am certain. Some very smart people are making a lot of money off it though...

It almost makes me wish Yellowstone would erupt; the volume of greenhouse gases that would send up into the atmosphere would dwarf human activity and render all our projections useless - I almost wish that.

I'll check out those videos tonight, cheers.

[BeamStalk]

Carbon Offsets are Bullshit!

Of that, I am certain. Some very smart people are making a lot of money off it though....

Trust me, if I didn't care about people and only cared about money, carbon offsets would be a good scam to start, just ask Al Gore.....

[E-lad]

People.
This is admitted quackaloonery. Settle down. ***Smack!***

[E-lad]

ExPat,

Around 5 years of propaganda - from both sides - later and now I'm not so sure.

Don't worry. The rest of your life will be "not so sure." You are thus condemed. Join the club. Hehehe

[ExPatMatt]

ExPat,

Around 5 years of propaganda - from both sides - later and now I'm not so sure.

Don't worry. The rest of your life will be "not so sure." You are thus condemed. Join the club. Hehehe

Are you sure about that?

[/Sye]

[Quasar]

I have so many cases where I'd like to believe something. MMGW is one of them: I'm a pessimist, so I'd like to believe it's the big corporations destroying the climate, and I'd also like to think that if we got our act together there would be something we could do about it.

But in this case, there's simply too much political ideology standing in front of the facts.

Nonetheless, I think that we should treat it as if GW was 100% man made, and act, because of the only available options:

1a) GW is natural, we don't act. We're screwed.
1b) GW is natural, we act. We're still screwed.
2a) GW is man made, we don't act. We're still freaking screwed
2b) GW is man made, we act. We might not be screwed.

[ExPatMatt]

1a) GW is natural, we don't act. We're screwed.
1b) GW is natural, we act. We're still screwed.
2a) GW is man made, we don't act. We're still freaking screwed
2b) GW is man made, we act. We might not be screwed.

This is the only reason to take it seriously. The problem is that by accepting this logic, you're also buying in to a world-wide industry that has reached the same conclusion using scare tactics and misinformation. Because of this, their methods of 'acting' are very different to what they should be.

Unfortunately, not buying in to the GW thing puts you in the same camp as the people that reject it for entirely irrational reasons and, I think, this is why many people are timid to admit that they doubt it's reality.


There is something very wrong with human beings on this planet, but burning fossil fuels is not it.