It’s Better to Get It Right Than To Have Been Right

“We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion;and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still”

John Stuart Mill – Liberty – 1869

Some 26,000 scientists, environmental activists, world leaders and media descended on Copenhagen this week, cheered on by unquestioning minions who accept the manifesto of global warming and that it is primarily the result of carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of hydrocarbons.

However, there remains genuine skepticism from credible and credentialed individuals about whether the planet is warming and, if so, whether it’s the result of man’s activities.  Regretfully, these voices will be silenced lest they create an environment where others might demand further research.

The opposing beliefs are personified by Al Gore who asserts that “the debate is over” and Rush Limbaugh who contends the whole issue is a “left wing fraud”.

The gospel of those who believe the earth is racing headlong toward an environmental catastrophe is Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”.  When challenged that some of the movie’s scenes were staged and statements, such as claims polar bears are disappearing, may be inaccurate, the former vice president pompously ignores his critics.

Meanwhile, Limbaugh demeans his potentially valid criticisms with name calling and innuendo.

Legitimate questions, such as why the polar caps on Mars are shrinking, lend credence to consideration as to whether the earth’s warming could be the result of solar or other activities uninfluenced by man.   Further, skeptics have offered evidence that increased atmospheric CO₂ levels followed, not preceded, increases in global temperatures as the “sky is falling” crowd contend.

Yet, there is clear, convincing and visual evidence the polar Artic icecap is receding, the Antarctic ice shelves are shrinking at an accelerating pace and many of the world’s glaciers are retreating at a rate where most may disappear by mid-century.

Fueling the debate are recent revelations of the Climate Research Unit’s apparent suppression and/or manipulation of dissenting climatic and other data which may, or may not, validly question or contradict its prevailing view that man-made emissions are the global warming culprit.

Those who believe an environmental apocalypse is imminent demand harsh emission constraints on governments, businesses and even individuals through cap-and trade, carbon tax and other punitive policies, particularly on those in the developed world.   Some of the proposed goals would see the United States turn the clock back to per capita emission outputs not seen since the late 19^th century, while potentially paying billions to underdeveloped nations at a time its economy is in shambles and deficit in the stratosphere.

Irresponsibly, they seem willing to give China, India and other emerging economies which are large greenhouse gas emitters a pass by not requiring them to agree to absolute reductions but rather to merely consent to amorphous reductions in their projected emissions growth rates.

Those who contend global warming is a hoax or not a serious problem would maintain the status quo.  Their “head in the sand” approach could foreshadow a worldwide environmental calamity.

The consequences of a failure to fully and accurately understand what is happening to the earth’s climate and the real causes could be catastrophic!

If Al Gore’s premises are correct, than not adopting strict emission controls, such as are being proposed in Copenhagen, might result in the predicted increases in global temperatures, the inundation of many of the world’s major cities and harmful changes in weather patterns which would materially affect world’s food and water supplies with grave and deadly military conflicts a predictable result.

If, however, those who believe the earth is not warming materially or, if it is, it’s the result of a natural cycle which has reoccurred periodically over the millenniums, the solutions being pushed in Copenhagen could inflict needless and devastating damage on the world’s economies, particularly those in the developed world, as well as crushing the standards of living worldwide.

A third alternative is that world is warming but the causes are external to the activities of man.  If so, the world must begin to prepare for an environment in which some nations may disappear or see the loss of large coastal areas, including hundreds of the world’s most heavily populated cities, beneath the waves and dramatically changing global weather patterns, potentially leading to wide spread famine, drought, human refugee migrations and armed conflicts.

Perhaps, Al Gore, Rush Limbaugh and their respective sycophants might consider putting their enormous egos and partisan rhetoric on the shelf in the interest of seeking truth and the best interests of their country and the world by joining forces to sponsor a truly impartial forum dedicated to uncovering the veracity about global warming and its causes in which all viewpoints would receive an equal opportunity to have credible spokespersons present their cases.  Hopefully, the participants would ultimately build a non-partisan, scientifically-based consensus on the reality of climate change and strategies to deal with its consequences.

Selfishly, they might discover their respective reputations and integrities are greatly enhanced as a result.

All parties must recognize an imperative that it’s better to get it right than to have been right!