Global Hot Air

Going through my notebook yesterday, I came upon a quote by Kierkegaard, who said that twenty-five signatures make the most frightful stupidity into an opinion.  Now, Kierkegaard is not my favorite in terms of what he stood for (he was, after all, a Marxist), but that doesn’t mean he can’t be right sometimes.  People are prone to quote him because  he did say some nice-sounding things.  Also, they probably don’t realize what his real views were. 

So here’s a quote from someone more contemporary; well-known economist and commentator, Thomas Sowell.  Sowell said that to “build a beautiful world of ideals takes only an active imagination, some free time, and a nice vocabulary.” 

Within those two quotations lies the crux of the global warming (oops! “climate change”) position on the state of nature today. 

Back when I was a young liberal, whatever I read in the Atlantic Monthly or the Paris Review was gospel to me, and I never questioned it, never researched the veracity of what I read or heard.  I’m afraid that young libs today are walking that same path.  Winston Churchill said that If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart, and if you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.  So I took those words to heart and grew up.  Twenty years later, I’ve seen and experienced enough to know that when a bunch of scientists dependent on government grants reach a concensus that global warming is a huge, manmade crisis that has to be handled immediately, it doesn’t mean there is a global warming crisis.  Why should I take their word for it when there are just as many scientists (specializing in meteorology) who say differently?

In science, there is no such thing as a concensus.  A thing is either proven, or it’s a hypothesis.  And a peer review is just another word for, “yeah, I’ve read it and it seems fine to me.”  So I’m not swayed by Mr. Gore’s charges that we are evil or ignorant if we don’t sign on to his hype.  I first question his motives – what does he have to gain from his films, speeches, awards, celebrity, books, (hey!  I think I just answered my question!)? 

Many politicians want to make a name for themselves, and I understand that. It’s human to want to be relevant, leave a legacy.  Mr. Gore lost an election he feels he should have won (and by the way, the NY Times and other publications paid for a recount, which evidenced that he did, indeed, lose the election, and it wasn’t because of any shenanigans pulled by his opponent, either. But you don’t know this if you didn’t read about it months later in a one-paragraph story buried on page 2,000 of the NY Times).  If he isn’t bitter about a loss that changed the shape of history, he sure acts like a man who is.  When the entire country came together in the days following 9/11, even people in his own party were glad George W. Bush was at the helm to handle the attack so promptly and vigorously.  That must have hurt Gore’s keen sense of pride and righteousness. 

But I digress.  It has now been shown, (by no less than a schoolchild in another country!) that the poor, drowning polar bears in Mr. Gore’s nonsensical movie were pulled from a Hollywood movie scene.  Sheesh!  All those sophisticated journalists who make big claims to honor the truth and dig deep for facts rushed to the fore.  Say it ain’t so! they said.  But sadly, it turns out that the only inconvenient truth in Mr. Gore’s production is that he and his filmakers were so intent on shoving their Glorious Cause down our throats that they faked some of the footage. 

Scientists who specialize in climate have written that they differ with the “concensus” posited by Mr. Gore and his sheep.  But they’re portrayed as moneygrubbing kooks who work for oil companies (although I have seen no evidence that they do). None of the, ahem, objective, journalists get around to questiong the bona fides of the scientists who are backing Al Gore.  I’m no scientist myself, just a writer who wants the truth.  As a citizen, I feel an  obligation to pay attention so I can make solid decisions based on facts rather than hooey  Since I’m forced to do the digging that professional reporters refuse to do, what have I found?

Certainly no evidence that we’ve reached a crisis requiring the kind of sacrifice Mr. Gore and his crowd are blathering about.  If people want to give up their large cars to drive something smaller, I don’t care.  If they choose to recycle their trash, that’s cool; they’re entitled to their opinion.  But at this point, that’s all the global warming “crisis” is.  It’s an opinion from people who want to tell me how to live my live, who want to use my money for their causes. 

Uh uh.  Not as long as I have a voter’s card and a mind of my own.