Global-warming deniers envision vast conspiracy involving thousands of scientists
June 29th, 2009 at 08:34am Pat Cunningham
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 Paul Krugman accuses global-warming skeptics of “treason against the planet” at a time when the problem is becoming worse than previously anticipated:
To fully appreciate the irresponsibility and immorality of climate-change denial, you need to know about the grim turn taken by the latest climate research.
The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe — a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable — can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.
 Read the whole thing HERE.
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15 Comments Add your own
1. realfoxnews | June 29th, 2009 at 10:35 am
They need to make their minds up, if its global-warming or is the earth cooling. It all depends what year it is. ask somebody who’s in their 90’s they tell you when they were growing up it was a lot hotter than this. How much does Gore make off this?
2. Mike Carroll | June 29th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
OOPS.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124597505076157449.html
Perhaps Mr. Krugman should stay in his purported field of expertise which is economic theory. He should also be honest enough to admit that unless China, India and other developing countries play along (and they wont) the proposed regulation will have no impact whatsoever on Climate Change.
3. Neftali | June 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Mike,
I suppose I could play Devil’s advocate and say that the United States should be a leader in terms on Carbon Emissions Control. That’s really what this bill is after all.
Calling it Climate Change or global warming is kind of a joke anyway. The earth is ~ 4.5B years old. During that time it constantly goes through warming and cooling periods. Some of it do to its own making, some of it do to cycles from the Sun.
Anyway, its debatable how much impact human beings are having on the climate, and how much is just “natural causes.”
I’m all for a healthier planet, but this cap & trade legislation has too great of a negative economic impact for the questionable returns we will get from it.
4. shawnnews | June 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Usually the people who deny global warming are people who don’t understand it or haven’t been in science classes in more than 20 years. Part of the scientific model of the world often change. Right now the current consensus is that the average temps on earth are warming. I took college level science courses in the 90s. I thought they were hard. However that was the current view of the world.
Al Gore didn’t make it up. He’s been using his public and poilitical status to sell the idea. I’m not sure if that has helped. A lot of people have come to the ridiculous conclusion that he made it up and that it’s some sort of ploy for scoialism. Read some of the kooky letters to the editor and the comments.
What I find really dumb though is that the people who don’t believe it can’t produce any scientists to support their claims. A few economists, some guys who say “You know they had a global cooling scare in the 70s,” some pundits, but no scientists. They just claim its some conspiracy to make Al Gore rich.
5. realfoxnews | June 29th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
shawnnews If you took back in the 90’s sorry to say that info is also wrong. So you better do some work on it. Also they do have facts on it when I get back Mr news I’ll get them for you.
6. shawnnews | June 29th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I’d appreciate it. But in reality, the people whose minds you’d have to change in order to be taken seriously are the univeristy scholars who make up the scientific consensus.
7. Mike Carroll | June 29th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Neftali-Totally agree with your comments and hopefully this legislation will die a well desrved death in the Senate.
8. shawnnews | June 29th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
“New Scientist” has dozens of articles in its climate change section including FAQs liek “They said in the 70s we were in the process of global cooling” or “Global warming ended in 1998,” both claims I’ve seen in print or on the boards.
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/climate-change
9. Milton Waddams | June 29th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I think that Al Gore was probably at the same time the best thing and the worst thing to happen to climate change. One the one hand, his documentary (which unfortunately makes too much use of hyperbole) drew a lot of attention to the issue. On the other hand, because it was documentary made by a politician, it is immediately suspect in the eyes of many people.
I studied climatology in college a few years ago, I understand all the science behind it and have seen the models. Climate change is a real phenomenon and it is NOT simply natural fluctuations. That being said, this piece of legislation is terrible and needs to die.
10. realfoxnews | June 29th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Just Google Global cooling you find a lot of stuff. One thing that stuck out at me that is Al Gore is being Sued by 30,000 Scientists for misleading on global warming. The best facts is ask you Grandpa who is 85-90 what he thinks he would tell you it was much colder when he was growing up.
11. Neftali | June 29th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Milton - Yup. Human beings were responsible for the 20 degree Celsius temperature fluctuations for the first 4.4999 Billion years of earth’s existence. That makes a lot of sense.
Do yourself a favor and google “earth temperature history”
But of course, any change in temperature during the past 200 years must be because of man, and not the earth. Right?
12. snuss | June 29th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
The “Cap & Trade” legislation that barely passed the House, and hopefully will die in the Senate, will actually make pollution worse. Companies that can’t afford the greater expense of environmental upgrades will close their U.S. factories, and shift production to India, China, or some other country that doesn’t follow any environmental restrictions. So global pollution levels will rise, and our economy will be further depressed. Great idea, Lefties!
13. Craig Knauss | June 29th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
This is one time that I agree with snuss. Cap and Trade will only encourage U.S. companies to move anything that’s left overseas. It’ll be the biggest boondoggle since the Foreign Investment Tax Credit. I worked in China quite a while back and they didn’t have a clue about environmental engineering and couldn’t have cared less. I hope they are more conscientious about it now, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
14. Milton Waddams | June 29th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Neftali: Natural changes in temperature don’t occur over short (in geologic terms) time periods like we are seeing now, which I think you grasp just fine, but it doesn’t fit your argument very well. Why is it so difficult for you to consider that we are having an impact on our environment?
15. Neftali | June 30th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Milton - There is no question we are having an impact on our environment. The Pacific Trash Vortex, rain forest destruction, and just the general over-population of the human species impact the environment is a very negative way.
But the real debate comes in how much affect do humans have on the climate vs. what the earth would have done naturally anyway.
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