Back on December 14, 2001, I was working on a rural electrification project in Guatemala when I got to view a near total solar eclipse - I made a pin hole projector and everything (see the attached photo.) It was amazing to me to hear and see the local news on the radio and TV assuring the people that it was only a natural phenomenon and not the end of the world*. It seemed to me that the modern Mayas weren't that far removed from the ancient Mayas that were portrayed in Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, where the poor peasants had their hearts ripped out as they were sacrificed by the decadent power-grabbing priests, right in front of the stoned-out-of-their-minds royalty, playing on the people's and leaders' ignorance of natural phenomena, like solar eclipses, making everyone think that what they were doing was controlling the weather. Of course, we modern Americans are no better - we've crowned Al Gore and the other alarmists of "man-caused Global Warming" as our high priests and are offering up our economy as a sacrifice (they want $2T/yr = 15% of our 2006 GDP!) in an attempt to change the natural phenomenon of global warming. What a bunch of nimrods we are becoming.
And since the scientific community has been marginalized out of the current "debate" on man's contribution to Global Climate Change, and since it is no longer acceptable for anyone to express a viewpoint on the subject that doesn't coincide with our priest's, it is imperative that we all do a little of our own homework on this topic so that we can try to shift the public opinion back to something a little more based on science rather than superstition. Toward that end, following are a few recommended readings on global climate change, for your personal edification:
And since the scientific community has been marginalized out of the current "debate" on man's contribution to Global Climate Change, and since it is no longer acceptable for anyone to express a viewpoint on the subject that doesn't coincide with our priest's, it is imperative that we all do a little of our own homework on this topic so that we can try to shift the public opinion back to something a little more based on science rather than superstition. Toward that end, following are a few recommended readings on global climate change, for your personal edification:
- Shattered Consensus, The True State of Global Warming by Patrick J. Michaels
- MYTHS, LIES, AND DOWNRIGHT STUPIDITY: GET OUT THE SHOVEL -- WHY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG by John Stossel. Note: You can read the pertinent chapter on-line at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3061015&page=1
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism) by Christopher C. Horner
- Energy & the Environment: Myths & Facts by Max Schulz
- Carbon Dioxide and Global Change: Separating Scientific Fact from Personal Opinion prepared by Sherwood B. Idso and Craig D. Idso
- The Blue Dog Coalition, Energy Principles, 110th Congress
- Petition Project – Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide by Arthur B. Robinson, Sallie L. Baliunas, Willie Soon and Zachary W. Robinson
- Reconstructing Climatic and Environmental Changes of the Past 1000 Years: A Reappraisal by Willie Soon, Sallie Baliunas, Craig Idso, Sherwood Idso and David R. Legates
- Modeling climatic effects of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions: unknowns and uncertainties by Willie Soon, Sallie Baliunas, Sherwood B. Idso, Kirill Ya. Kondratyev and Eric S. Posmentier
- Climate change: Conflict of observational science, theory and politics by Lee C. Gerhard
- Issues in the Current State of Climate Science, A Guide for Policy Makers and Opinion Leaders
- Variations in CO2 Growth Rate Associated with Solar Activity by Dr. Theodor Landscheidt
- Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis - Technical Summary, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- Hug and Barrett versus IPCC by Heinz Hug and Jack Barrett
- Winning the Energy Endgame: Oil, Gas Electricity, and Climate by Amory B. Lovins
- Climate Connections: The failure to include many factors in climatology by Dr. Tim Ball
- Samuelson: The Dilemma of Global Warming vs. Economic Growth by Robert J. Samuelson
- Economic Climate Changes by Marlo Lewis
- The gods are laughing by Tom Harris
- Hockey Stick, 1999-2005, R.I.P.
- Global Warming Bombshell by Richard Muller
- Written Testimony of John R. Christy, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 2 May, 2001
- There is No ‘Consensus’ on Global Warming
- Decoding Climate Politics by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
- Get Your Priorities Right, The Weekend Interview with Bjorn Lomborg by Kimberley A. Strassel
- Climate of Fear by Richard Lindzen
- A Global Warming Worksheet by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
- Pork, the New Green Meat by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
- Highly Over-Hyped – Greenland’s and Antarctica’s Impacts on Sea Level by Sherwood, Keith and Craig Idso
- Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Generation of Electric Power in the United States report jointly prepared in July 2000 by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency
* Excerpt from my journal 12/14/01: "Our afternoon was broken up a bit as we went outside to observe the solar eclipse. I showed the guys how to make a pin-hole projector to view the eclipse -- they were impressed. They always attribute technical proficiency to my being a "Gringo" -- like when I showed them how to set the clock in the truck, run the remote control on the air conditioner, etc. Juan Jose tried to improve my eclipse projector and when it didn't work they all laughed at him for trying to be a Gringo. Speaking of laughing, we also watched local TV coverage of the eclipse and just had to chuckle when the local scientists had to reassure the local citizens that this is only a natural phenomenon and not the end of the world. The news said that the best view of this eclipse was in Costa Rica -- Jorge Mario suggested we walk around the block to their embassy to watch it there."
No comments:
Post a Comment