In regards to "man made" global warming.?

Question

Why are people always calling for the banning of cars that "rich" people drive? Poorer people tend to drive older cars not equipped with the latest in emmisions control so explain that to me.

Is anyone else for banning say manufacturing plants, pet stores, restraunts, printing devices or computers for that matter?

How should we live to stop all this "global warming" I am curious.

Answer 1

"Mankinds contribution" to the natural occuring phenomena, called Global Warming, is negligible. IF Global Warming did not exist, I'd imagine we would STILL be in an ICE AGE. So, I ask, is Global Warming really a "problem"? I don't think so.

Is it "happening"? YES. Can we stop it? NO. Why not? Because it is a "naturally occuring phenomena". Throwing "money" at it, only wastes financial resources, that could be better invested in matters that we actually MAY be able to "deal with".

Answer 2

Because GW is an earth problem we need to come together to fight it. I think a pollution surcharge is best. Because we are running out of oil, we must have renewable resources for energy. Cars will be around for a long time, but when gas is $30 per gallon can you buy it? If we want that time to be more than 30 years from now we have to make changes today.

Answer 3

personal vehicles are quite a big source of pollution that may be significantly reduced with some thought.

Answer 4

Sculptre  -   stop blaming China.  Their industrialization is young, while we've been doing it for over 100 years.   They now have caught up or surpassed us in greenhouse gas, sure, but with four times as many people.  Per capita we dirty the air four times more.

  They will follow if we lead the way.  They are making moves to increase alternative energy, in fact that's why they're building that big dam.  (not that it's such a great idea, for other reasons)  They just announced a goal of reaching 10% clean energy by 2020.  It's a start.  They have a fast growing solar industry making solar cells, panels.

Most of it is exported so far, but that will change as demand grows there.

As far is banning SUVs, I hadn't heard about that.

I don't think it's out of line to suggest that people drive more efficient cars though.  We need to take a second look at our bigger is better way of living.  

Transportation constitutes a larger percentage of pollution than the other things that you mentioned.  And it's about entirely fossil fuel driven.

How should you live? better

The change to clean energy will drive the economy.  Oil is a  very wasteful way of getting energy.  There are estimates of $825 billion annual hidden costs in the oil based economy.

That includes over $80 billion in oil company subsidies or tax credits.  

http://www.setamericafree.org/saf_hidden...     Hidden Costs of OIL

"The total of all oil-related external or “hidden” costs of $825 billion per year. This

total is nearly twice the figure authorized for the Department of Defense in 2006.

To put the figure in further perspective, it is equivalent to adding $8.35 to the price

of a gallon of gasoline refined from Persian Gulf oil. This would raise that figure to

$10.73, making the cost of filling the gasoline tank of a sedan $214.60, and of an

SUV $321.90."   (about $11.35 per gallon now)

U.S. oil imports: $309.4 billion in 2006, over three times the 2001 level.

Cost of oil-related defense expenditures: $137 billion in 2006.

Loss of current economic activity outflow: $117 billion in 2006.

The money Americans spend on oil imports is not repatriated through international trade.

· Loss of local, state and federal tax revenues: $43 billion in 2006.

· In 2003 it was estimated that our import dependence deprived the U.S. economy of

828,400 jobs.

· Economic toll of periodic oil supply disruptions over the past three decades: between

$2.3 trillion and $2.5 trillion.

· Amortized costs of supply disruptions: $133 billion annually."

Since we're not paying for that at the pumps, then we are paying for it in taxes.  

With 1/40 of that much tax money we could have a 65% solar powered electric grid by the middle of the century and almost entirely solar by 2100.  The  spending would be about $400 billion over about 20years; or about $20 billion per year.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-so...

Scientific American article-- then we could have all electric cars.

Solar companies are already to begin.  They are already building plants in California. And building factories to mass produce components for the plants, which are solar thermal so far.  Meaning they use the heat of the sun to boil water, and steam generate electricity.

Ausra is starting to build a plant in California now.  

GreenWombat has several articles on these companies.

http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/

Construction on two other solar thermal plants are to begin, in the Mojave desert.

"Solar is one the most land-efficient sources of clean power we have, using a fraction of the area needed by hydro or wind projects of comparable output. All of America's needs for electric power – the entire US grid, night and day – can be generated with Ausra's current technology using a square parcel of land 92 miles on a side. For comparison, this is less than 1% of America's deserts, less land than currently in use in the U.S. for coal mines."

"Solar thermal power plants such as Ausra's generate electricity by driving steam turbines with sunshine. Ausra's solar concentrators boil water with focused sunlight, and produce electricity at prices directly competitive with gas- and coal-fired electric power."      

from their website:

Anybody want to stake the fate of future generations on R.M.G!'s opinion of  whether global warming is manmade?  He says we might waste some money. Does he mean waste more than we are now with our oil economy?  

It seems kind of obvious,  that we are doing and have done enough damage to the earth's ecosytems globaly to warrant taking the exact same steps as if for global warming.  

Here's a thought

What are we going to make all the synthetic materials from when the oil is gone?  Fabrics, plastics, chemicals, drugs, paints, lubricants etc

That's  something I've wondered about.  Then I wondered how long the world supply of oil would have lasted it we had only made things with it instead of burning it.

Answer 5

Before I worry about if science is right about global warming, I want FACT showing that the Earths atmospheric temperature remained constant.  Not able to be done.  Studies in the Artic show evidence showing that the global climate is in a constant state of change, either hotter or colder.  Is our current "global climate change" man made?  I dont know, but I do know its a wonderfull time for scientists to study how nature responds.

Answer 6

Your opening statement, to a certain degree, really points out what this is all about.  Controlling people.  The believers want to make car makers conform to their ways by making more efficient cars, but no one cares about all the used vehicles, which most certainly outnumbers new ones, that perform significantly poorer in the MPG race.  And it's not just poor people that drive these older vehicles either.  A lot of us just like to drive older vehicles because the cost a lot less to maintain.  In the end it's about control and money.  Just for your own info, e-mail a local meteorologist/weatherman and ask their take on global warming.  These are trained scientists, but they don't have any political or financial interest in the subject, they just see it as science.  The ones I listen to all agree that there is no reason to believe climate change is anything but perfectly natural.  Live life the way you want and good luck.

Answer 7

Well, people focus on SUVs because there are more environmentally friendly alternatives.  There are no better alternatives to pet stores, restaurants, printing devices or computers, so we really have no choice.

Answer 8

Absolutely.

Answer 9

Global warming is a phenomenon that has happened in our history before and is currently happening on other planets (can look up references if anyone wants).  I always groan when I here a politician say the other candidate isn't doing anything about it.  Part of it is a planetary change that has little to do with cars. We are also due for a global cooling which will be much more dangerous.  

What can we do?  Have you looked at the pollution rates in Asia?  If we all give up driving cold turkey and China and India continue as they do, there will be no change.

I think we can make changes for a better society, one not drowning in excess and waste.  That would be great but as for ending global warming, it isn't enough.

Maybe it would be good to prepare for it and see how we have to live to survive the climate changes.  Just my thoughts.  No need to flame if you don't agree, just add your ideas. Thanks.

Answer 10

I wouldn't worry about it Millions of years ago it was really hot, than it got cold, than it got hot, than it got cold, than it got hot, than it got cold, see where I'm going with this, there is no stopping it it will just get hot than cool off Al Gore has us all scared cause he wanted an oscar

Answer 11

Absolutely.

In short, the bottom line, for reader's question:

Living with global warming won't cause heartburn;

your remaining lifetime only makes it more interesting.

And, as ever, never trust a grapefruit.

Answer 12

It's a matter of convenience here.  How many of those hummer and SUV users NEED those kind of cars.  It's not just the fact that they cost more money for gas, eat up our natural resource faster, are nothing but for flash or irrelevant convenience, or a number of other impractical characteristics..  but they are UGLY.  Anyways seriously...  Do what you want, care bout what you want, but this earth has giving you everything, so why risk hurting her fragile nature?

Answer 13

Why ban anything? Global Warming has only always been a THEORY which most scientists have slowly even agreed may not have been largely manmade at all.

     Of course 'Global Warming' in 10,000 BC and the 16th century AD when it was widely reported, must have been from a huge amount of people driving SUVs, right!