Global warming 'skeptics' what are you afraid of?

Question

I frequently see AGW 'skeptics' complaining about environmentalists wanting to deny them their freedom. What freedoms are you afraid of losing because of climate change policy?

Do you disagree with the idea that, even if there is no AGW, we should still try to live sustainably and reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels?

Answer 1

From my point of view, they are mostly afraid of being "to blame".  And, while there remains some debate about the idea that HUMANS are the CAUSE of Global Warming, the fact that the EARTH IS WARMING is not up for debate. It is. All the evidence points to it. And that should be cause for concern to anyone living on this planet. And, it is something that we should all take part in fixing.

Answer 2

Speaking only for myself, I am afraid that we taxpayers are going to be forced into backing another lemon...... the most recent one being corn ethanol.  Corn ethanol, we were assured, when used with gasoline would result in significant reductions of pollutants.

Now... after $$Billions in taxpayer-provided subsidies..... we have learned that corn ethanol actually pollutes MORE than regular gasoline.

We taxpayers were duped by the so-called scientists/experts.... I don't want it to happen again.  

Good intentions were turned into 'voo-doo' science.  I sense that it is happening again except on a much larger scale.

THAT's the kind of stuff that this skeptic is afraid of.

For Dana:  There is no doubt that President Bush has encouraged corn ethanol usage, but what I continue to be concerned about is the credibility of the information he has received regarding its' 'green-ness'.  I guess that I could believe that he just hasn't been appraised of current info OR that maybe he has simply turned a blind eye to the problem for political reasons..... wouldn't be the first time a politician has done such a thing.

Answer 3

I fear the loss of a free market and my property rights (namely, the right to keep what I earn).  Socialism collapses every economy it gets its hands on.  Want to see the middle class completely disappear?  Keep begging the Fed to get involved in our markets.  Hamper competition, create artificial barriers to entry, outlaw cheaper alternatives to inferior products and watch as we return to the Dark Ages.

Answer 4

It's simple - communism may have failed outwardly (except in N. Korea, Cuba, and China), but the Communists have not given up.

They are now harnessing their abject hatred for progress and capitalism and individual freedom in the form of controlling us all by a new ideology.  This ideology is environmentalism and global warm-ism.  The result is the same as communism.  The masses have nothing. They have no rights. They own nothing.  Private jobs -gone.  Private propery  - gone.  Individual freedom-gone.  

We will have to beg the government for all of life's necessities - shelter, energy, transportation, food, and warm dwellings.

If you want to beg government for the right to exist, you are evil and sick.

I will not tolerate your weak-willed communism.  You will not defeat me.

Neither will al gore .

Answer 5

From what I've seen - and the answers so far confirm this - it all boils down to fear of a carbon tax.  Then if a carbon tax is put in place, they're afraid it will make gas guzzlers and the like unaffordable (i.e. see jim z's answer).

Here's the problem with that line of thinking - nowhere in the Bill of Rights is there a 'right to no new taxes' or a 'right to emit as much CO2 as you want'.  These are not freedoms.  That we haven't had to pay for the environmental damage of our CO2 emissions so far is a privilege!  And obviously new taxes are enacted all the time.

The whole 'freedoms' thing is just a buzzword.  Like 'the terrorists and lib-rals hate our freedoms!'.  It's sort of a catch-all term for "I don't like what you're doing", but exploiting the fact that our country is supposed to be all about freedom.

In response to BB - George Bush has been the one pushing corn-based ethanol the hardest, under the pretense of caring about the environment, but really for the benefit of farmers.  You can't blame that one on environmentalists.  In fact, I'm not aware of any environmentalists who have strongly supported corn-based ethanol, but many who point out that it's no better than gasoline.

In response to Mud - you're too late.  Again, I refer you to Bush.

In response to James - that's a total crock.  Those sounding the alarm are those saying we need to move to new technologies like solar, wind, and tidal power, electric cars, etc.  It's those trying to maintain our addiction to oil who are preventing the progress espoused by the greens.

Answer 6

Manda

If you check carefully you will also find that those people who are beating the panic drum the loudest are also the ones strongest against technological solutions to the world’s problems. These people are part of an anti technology religion that wants to return society to the middle ages with them in the position of kings and queens ruling the rest of us. Their concept id that they will have the technology of comfort while the rest of us (serfs) will have none. Welcome to the dream of Karl Marx and the Brave New World of 1984.

Answer 7

"Do you disagree with the idea that, even if there is no AGW, we should still try to live sustainably and reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels?"

Yes, I completely agree with this. I even advocate "action" to combat GCC along those lines because I accept the possibility that CO2 is the primary driver of the recent warming.

I am still a skeptic of the theory.

Answer 8

I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE MYTH CALLED GLOBAL WARMING!!  

CAUTION History lesson- back in the 1970's the big fear was GLOBAL COOLING.

I know why the earth is warming.... It is a secret, don't tell anyone.  Warming is due to the orange/red ball in the sky aka the SUN.

If the north polo is melting, is this also happening in the south polo?

Answer 9

NO !!!  U give up your freedoms if U want to. I think that people that can not see that it is a lie is in real trouble. Look at Gore and U can tell by the way he lives he doesn't think it is true...

Answer 10

It's always a good idea to be frugal and conserve.

The fear is of policies and taxation that will impact freedoms and quality of life.

Answer 11

the real issue is constantly being ignored. There are already too many people on this planet and nothing is being done to stop the runaway growth in population. All of these people are breathing out CO2, eating and driving food prices up, causing more famine and misery, and generally depositing their carbon footprints all over the planet. I don't personally see how driving an electric smart car and using the same carrier bag for years is going to help much in the face of this.

Answer 12

the global warming hoax will cost money,jobs and sovereignty.if people want to conserve that is great,but don't use a hoax to force change

Answer 13

The problem is that they start with a wrong assumption:

a RIGHT TO POLLUTE AND USE EARTH RESOURCES FOR FREE.

Let´s admitt it, the price we pay for natural resources is well too low considering the fact that we use them much faster than they get replenished, than we discover new ones and than we find ways to use them in a more efficient manner.

It is basically "stealing" wealth (opportunities) from future generation. This is also a morally wrong supposition that we do not have to share with future generation. This assumption comes from the fact that for centuries we lived in a planet with a low world population and a low use of resources.

Regarding pollution:

- most of the time, the cost of the induced pollution is not covered at a right level by the price. As such we have an unfair distribution of the cost on the society.

Wether you like it or not, one´s, your freedom is limited by other people´s right.

Answer 14

It is a total waste of time and money to try to cut carbon dioxide emissions. This will impose huge tax burdens on the world. If anything, CO2 levels are too low to promote climate stability. The CO2 records clearly show that there is no correlation between CO2 levels and global temperatures. The earth has had many periods in the past with long ice ages and CO2 levels many many times higher than today. In 20 years, the CO2 scam will have been adequately exposed and man will kick themselves in the butt for wasting billions of dollars on something that is healthy for the planet. Shame on Al Gore and the political IPCC.

Answer 15

Nickel got it exactly.  Here is another way to say it.

The whole idea that I should have to show that a proposed environmental action will be cost neutral and not impede economic development while at the same time you are not required to show that conventional economic development is benign is ludicrous.  

Economic systems are a subset of environmental systems and as such all economic activity is dependent on a functioning biosphere.  All who would use or transform resources should have to show how their activity can be sustained for the long term before being allowed to commence.  

The trouble is, you will find, that the vast majority of current economic activity carried out by man on this earth is ultimately not sustainable.

What are they afraid of?  Change.

Nobody likes change, especially those who stand to lose from the changes.  

Everybody likes the status quo, especially those who benefit from it.

edit:

Every major advance of humanity has led to better conditions for everybody (mostly, until recently).  Now we have a situation where we have no choice left, we have to do it.  We have to make it better for everybody -  and we can with clean, free energy and a new ecology for our civilization.  And thanks to Mr. Gore, now the plan is on the table to start.

Answer 16

This is not political, this is physical. For many years, we have lived in a disposable world. We throw away tons of trash, a lot of it plastics, made from petroleum based products. We burn fuel in our vehicles that has for decades, polluted our air. We have burned other fossil fuels like coal which produces toxic levels of pollution. When it rains, the rain picks up particles of this dirt and that goes into our ground water, which we drink and use for daily needs, which waters our plants that we eat, and eventually ends up in our oceans. We used pesticides to protect our food from insects, but do not develop pesticides that are harmless to the environment, these wash into the ground water and eventually find their way to the rivers, lakes and seas. Trash is being dumped into the oceans, because there are many countries that have no place to put it all.

On the otherhand, Japan or at least a large segment of that country recycles and reuses nearly everything, it has very, very few if any trash barge runs, because it reuses everything.

Cleaning up the planet isn't about petty politics, cleaning the planet, or at least your own country isn't going to infringe on any freedom, other than the one that allows you to destroy your planet. Unless it's escaped alll of our attentions, there is no other Earth out there, and if there is, we will never set foot on it in our lifetimes, or a thousand lifetimes. We must take care of what we have here, now. While we still can.

Answer 17

The freedom to turn on the light switch and have affordable power for one thing.

If you want to sit in the dark shivering in the cold wiping you butt with a pine cone fine.   don't shove it down my throat.  I promise you, you will regret it if you try.

Answer 18

No country in the history of the world has EVER taxed their population into prosperity!

We need tax CREDITS and tax incentives for the production of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. And we need the politicians to GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Answer 19

I have no doubt that I live greener than you.  You should work to catch up with others before you criticize them for not acting like you think they should.

Answer 20

You are naive if you believe that your freedoms will remain intact if the global warming nuts finally get their way.  You simply haven't thought this thing through.  These people want to tax you s h i t l e s s, limit your travel options, control businesses at a socialist level, control your thermostat, and control every other aspect of your life.  You are in the throngs of the naive who really believe if would be cool to live in a world like Tarzan and his monkey friends.  In reality, Al Gore and all other socialist/communist/marxist/democrats have a more sinister reality in mind - total control of you and everything you own.  Wake up and smell the auto exhaust.  That smell is freedom.

Answer 21

"..... afraid of." Why, not a thing!

'cept'n that megalomaniac circus-freak side show crazy

clown from outer space, (An)al Gore having ever being taken

seriously!!!

Oh by the way..... Remember that 'famous' recent event

witch had occurred in the Antartic?

The collossal ice shelf that had collasped.....

And you can check this out on the noaa web page:

A tsunami generated by a severe,and they're fairly comm-

on up there, storm in the Bering Sea.

Most disturbances in that particular region take on the

form of arctic hurricanes. The geography of the north ex-

pidites it so.....

By the nature of the Bering Seas' convex dimentions and

the order of a storms' anti-clockwise rotation forcing the

shift of billions of metric tons of seawater (cold seas mass

are very dense) within the basin to the North-east & then

North .As the low-pressure area passes- all that displaced

water must equalize itself.....and that it surely does.

The result is a series of tsunami pulses that shoot through

the gap between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the

Alleutian island chain. These ancient volcanic islands form

a semi-circle and the southern and southeast barriers

of the Bering Seas' basin.

The shock-waves' energy runs unimpeded till it begins to

roll up the antarctic continental shelf and uplifts the mass of

ice surrounding island continent.

The swell engulfed Antarctica with varying force cracking or

as this event came to show, demolishing,the weakest

areas of the ice-shelf.

This has been a geologically common event throughout

millions of years of this Cenozoic Period in witch we live.

Yes, we as an intelligent species must take the responsibility

for the proper care of our natural resources and the

environment in we all live. No one is immune or too distant

to not be effected by careless polluting.

However "Politics" and "Balance of International Powers"

play the game by rules we as average citizens are

impotent to affect.....

So this is where the "Mind Game Brobdingnagian Global"

comes into play......

Amass the general populaces' zeitgeist into a managable

arena for Political and Economic gain and Control.

Didn't anyone get the point of the recent animated film,

"Chicken Little" !!? Example : Headline; " Eighty three

thousand people died overnight!!!" OMG!!!!

Yes.....they're...... d-e-a-d ! Gone..... Ka-put !!

Died from........ uh-h..... natural causes...... accidents......

a freak fall or two...... and one totally off the map death......

I mean.... weird, beyond ET . Even they(ETs) could not,

with their strange and resourceful use of vacuum hoses and

implements of orificial examination, top this Grande Dance

of Lifey death........ That's another story. Eh ? All you editors

out there in the  "Great Wide Open!" Y'all know the 'spin.'

Soooo.... I'm dyin' ennyways......so whatta I got to lose?......

However, I Am Shaman ! And History is my charge.....

and Mans' History is quite the show on this global stage.

I'm gonna get some popcorn (made with palmkernel oil)

a cold beer or double martini extra-dry, shaken not stirred,

(I use some 'everclear' to kick it up a dozen notches or so)

and sit back an' watch th' theatrics unfold.

                                                    Ta, SittingMoose,Shaman.

Answer 22

I am afraid of losing my ability to conduct science. Just like these guys: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pa...

I am old enough to remember back when the scientific community first suggested recycling and sustainability - back before the left wing hijacked them and added their psudo-religious mother earth, you-are-stupid-(or afraid, as you just said)-if-you-don't agree-with-us nonsense to it. Mostly what we object to is the anti-American left wing lunatic fear mongering totaly replacing any scientific investigation into these question - well, any scientific investigation that might show it's naturally occuring anyway.

Where is the open public debate? The global warming crowd permits none. This censorship unacceptable.

Answer 23

Reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels at the moment is not an option.  We rely on them, and there are no replacements available.  There' s no proof that they do any harm anyhow, just a wee bit of speculation.  Not enough to be concerned.

Climate policy affecting our rights?  Absolutely.  Because as a skeptic, knowing how political the global warming fraud is becomes an issue when looking at where it leads.  If you ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell you'd understand the politics behind the 'thought police'.  It only appeals to the leftist way of thinking.

Answer 24

The power to tax is the power to destroy.  You will lose everything from control of your thermostat to how many squares of toilet paper you use.  There is no limit (that I ever saw) to the extent that the left would like to control your life.  You may not be afraid but I am.  I don't fear warming but I do fear the creeping socialism that stiffles freedom and prosperity whether you chose to recognize it or not.

Answer 25

The only thing I'm afraid of is that stupidity will rule the world