Global Warming "Bait-and-Switch"
Fred Schwindel’s TV City ad promises 40” flat screen televisions for $200. You rush to his store, to learn he’s “fresh out” – but has some 42” models for $1000.
That’s “bait-and-switch,” and Fred could be prosecuted for consumer fraud.
In the political arena, however,
bait-and-switch is often rewarded, not punished – especially in the case of global
warming alarmism. Instead of fines or jail time, politicos get committee
chairs, presidencies, speaking fees and Nobel Prizes. Scientists and
bureaucrats receive paychecks, research grants and travel stipends for
Global warming bait-and-switch starts with simple statements that few would contest – then shifts seamlessly to claims that are hotly disputed and supported by little or no evidence.
The bait: Global warming is real. The switch: Global warming is intensifying and threatens agriculture, human civilization, and the fabric of life everywhere on earth.
Bait: 99% of scientists agree on the presence of human-caused global warming. Switch: The debate is over. Humans are the primary cause of temperature increases.
Bait: Atmospheric carbon dioxide from human activities is increasing. Switch: CO2 is the dominant greenhouse gas and is reaching unprecedented and dangerous levels.
Bait: Earth warmed during the twentieth century, as CO2 levels increased. Switch: Runaway warming is increasing hurricanes, melting polar ice caps, raising sea levels and causing species extinction.
Bait: Even little things like reducing personal energy consumption help the environment. Switch: We can stop climate change by switching to wind and solar energy.
The perpetrators of these B/S schemes may never be chastened or prosecuted. However, as in the case of consumer fraud, an informed public is less likely to get fleeced.
President Obama and
congressional Democrats support a $650 billion carbon cap-and-trade tax on
every household, business and factory in
Global warming (a.k.a. climate
change) has been “real” since time began. Witness the Ice Ages, interglacial
periods, Medieval Warm Period (950-1350), Little Ice Age (1400-1850), Anasazi
drought, Dust Bowl, and conversion of verdant river valleys into the
No one yet knows what solar energy fluctuations, planetary orbit shifts, recurrent oscillations in ocean currents, cloud cover variation, and other natural forces combined to cause these potent climatic changes. But there is no evidence that they have suddenly been displaced by human CO2 emissions.
Growing numbers of scientists say the climate change debate is far from over, and global warming was never a crisis. Over 650 certified meteorologists and climate scientists are on a US Senate compilation of climate cataclysm skeptics – and 32,000 scientists have signed the Oregon Petition, saying they dispute claims that humans are causing climate change and that the changes will be disastrous.
Many of them met in
The UN’s Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change claims to be the world’s “most authoritative body” on the subject. However, only “something on the order of 20%” of the panel’s scientists “have some dealing with climate,” admits a senior member. Even the IPCC chairman is an economist, not a scientist.
Worse, says atmospheric scientist Dr. Roy Spencer, the IPCC insists that human carbon dioxide emissions drive global warming. It has “never seriously investigated” the possibility that climate change might be natural. The IPCC sees only what it is looking for; it sees nothing it is not looking for.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may have “soared” from 280 ppm to 385 ppm over the last century. But this represents an almost trivial rise from 0.03% of the atmosphere to 0.04% – the equivalent of an increase from 3 cents to 4 out of $100, or from 1.08 inches to 1.44 inches on a football field. The dominant greenhouse gas is water vapor, which nature controls via evaporation and precipitation.
Planetary temperatures may have increased during the last century, as CO2 levels increased, but not in a straight line. They rose during 1900-1940 (1934 was the century’s warmest year), fell during 1940-1975, rose again during 1975-1998, then stabilized and even declined slightly from 1998 to 2008.
Unplugging unused appliances and
switching to CFL bulbs may help jet-setting
Even the IPCC recognizes that
perfect compliance with the Kyoto Protocol by every country would reduce global
temperature increases by only 0.2 degrees by 2050 (assuming CO2 does
drive global warming). But
Nearly 85% of
Not surprisingly, the more
people understand these facts, the worse the hysteria gets. Al Gore: Soaring global
temperatures will “bring human civilization to a screeching halt.” Energy
Secretary Stephen Chu: “We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more
agriculture in
So when Congress and the President call for more economic pain through energy restrictions and cap-and-trade bills, demand solid evidence for catastrophic warming and human causation. Don’t accept worthless computer models and worst-case scenarios. And don’t be conned by bait-and-switch tactics.
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive
Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of
Eco-Imperialism: Green power – black death.
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Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.Read Mr. Stolyarov's comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.