Ah, a politics thread. No, wait, science. No, that's not it, either. Hmmm...
Humans and yeast emit CO2, right? So, our very existence is contributing to our ultimate demise? I am polluting! Aaaahhhhh!
I don't kneel at the altar of science. The hand-wringing over
Global Warming - no, wait, now it's
Climate Change - is predicated upon accepting certain hypotheses as fact.
- The earth's climate is warming at an abnormal rate
- Mankind's behaviour is contributing to this warming
- This warming will lead to widespread human suffering
- No current or future humans will be able to mitigate the impending disaster
On a really basic level, I'm just not sure that I
believe any of those things.
People who are dear to me have rightly asked "so, what's the harm in being more efficient? In burning fewer fossil fuels?"
Of course, there is no inherent harm in Mankind changing its behaviour to that end, but solutions are not so simple.
The current quality of Mankind's way of life depends upon energy consumption. Unless you are willing to abandon the current nation/state principle established over the last 500 years - and, I would contend, the entire concept of Democracy - there is no way to ensure that vast populations on other continents won't simply take the place of the USA as the world's primary polluter.
Look, I'm hopeful and I'm prudent. I'm just not willing to sacrifice the American Way of Life so that wealth can be transferred to other parts of the globe. Honestly, for me, it really does come down to not only national sovereignty, but also what our ancestors worked and fought for. I don't share the opinion that Americans need to be punished economically to save the world.
