Why the duplicity in beliefs about GW?

Question

I have been looking at some of the Glenn Beck segments on GW at youtube and some other right wing voices on global warming and I see a major duplicity in it all.

One minute Beck is saying that GW is real and that we really need to pay attention to the environment (suggesting that we should do somethign about it). Then a split second later he will say that it is not man made and that it's all a hoax and a natural cycle.

Thing is, if it were just a natural cycle, why do anything about it at all? If we aren't causing it, there's no way we can solve it. Beck seems to be outfooling himself with his spin strategy.

Answer 1

To understand GW, one must be able to see a big picture, one needs some chemistry, geography and math. Learning the historical geo evolution and history in general is very important. I have heard some anti GW persons say we have more trees in N America today, but the truth is we deforested many parts of N America and in many places have junk trees growing that are big long term problems if we do not remove them and grow the right trees. Today here is what we know:  many of mankind’s advancements cause earth surface to warm, destroy the ozone layer, kill off endanger species, heat cities, and in some way cause more destruction.  Blacktop (roads and parking lots), buildings, air pollution (causes lung and other diseases), deforestation, duststorms (which increase hurricanes and cyclones and cause lung diseases), fires (cause pollution, mud slides, and deforestation), refrigerants (like CFC's), solvents (including benzene destroy the ozone layer raising skin cancer rates) and plastics; cars, airplanes, ships and most electricity production (causes pollution including raised CO2 levels) are human problems we need to fix to keep life on earth sustainable! The federal government needs to adopt a pollution surcharge to balance the field and advance new technologies. We must pay the real price of oil (petrochemicals) including global warming, cleanup and for health effects. But with that we must understand we have never seen what is now happening before. CO2 has never lead to temperature change, but temperature change has led to increases in CO2. The models have to be made as we go along with little evidence! The result is:  change is on the way, we just do not know what changes. But again adding a small amount of CO2 to the atmosphere enlarges the earths sun collection causing warming; increase water in the atmosphere and they form clouds cooling earth but causing flooding. Even natural events are warming earth and causing destruction. The sun has an increased magnetic field causing increases in earthquakes (more destruction), volcanoes (wow, great destruction), and sun spots. Lighting produces ozone near the surface (raising air pollution levels). But humans have destroyed half of the wetlands, cut down nearly half of the rain forest, and advance on the earths grasslands while advancing desertification which increases duststorms. The USA Mayor's have taken a stand and I believe are on the right track, we can have control and can have economic growth. With the peak of oil in the 1970’s, the peak of ocean fishing in the 1980’s, humans must stop procrastinating and make real changes to keep earth sustainable including in the energy debate, finance and regulation. The sun is available to produce energy, bring light to buildings and makes most of human’s fresh water. Composting is the answer to desertification. New dams are the answer to fresh water storage, energy and cooling earth by evaporation, we need many small ones all over (California needs 100 by 2012 and has not even started).

President Bush has made a choice of energy (ethanol) over food and feeding the starving people around the world; this is a choice China has rejected.

That is why I founded CoolingEarth.org, a geoengineering web sight where you can learn more about earth, the atmosphere, and how to sustain life on earth’s surface.

Answer 2

the earth doens't go around the sun perfecty, it moves in and out, so right now we are closer to the sun

The earth is a huge place, very hard to hurt

it doenst mean that we should do dumb things too it, having a car that get good gas milage is a good thing, shuting off things stuff like that, but it is really hard to hurt the earth

Answer 3

Uh...GW is real, yes....that does NOT mean the insinuation of it being "man-made" is accurate.  You missed Glenn's point.

ps--at least he has a point...you really don't, if you're arguing we should do nothing.

Answer 4

If some people 'believe' that a 'super-natural' force 'created' the Earth,then they will never 'believe' what Science proves.  Look at what happened to Copernicus,and Galileo,when they proved that the Bible was wrong. The Vatican had them arrested to try to prevent the TRUTH from being known to all! The SAME ignorant fears and beliefs are now being expressed by the 'deniers' of AGW! We can,and have damaged this tiny planet. If people everywhere started to truly understand  Science, religion would have a harder time scaring people into believing the false dogma of the Vatican! I'm positive that the majority of the 'deniers' are 'believers' in the 'Creation Story'! Funny how they can just accept the fables and stories as fact,and think science is just a hoax! They will never understand AGW,even as the deadly effects are indisputable. They will just claim that it's God's hand or something superstitious! No hope for intentional ignorance!

Answer 5

RE:  "One minute Beck is saying that GW is real and that we really need to pay attention to the environment (suggesting that we should do somethign about it). Then a split second later he will say that it is not man made and that it's all a hoax and a natural cycle."

>>> I don't seem to have any problem understanding what Beck is saying ..... assuming your rendition above is accurate.  

If natural global warming is occuring....and if we really know that it is occuring, then we should certainly pay attention so as to prepare for it.  For example, if I KNOW that the oceans are going to rise dramatically, I may move my beachfront home from 5 feet above sea-level to 40 or 50 feet above sea-level (or whatever).   That seems sensible to me or any other sane person.

That Beck does not believe in AGW ('man-did-it' GW)....is another issue.  

You don't have to believe in AGW to believe in GW!!

I almost sense that someone is stretching a bit to smear a popular conservative..... note that I said "almost".

Answer 6

Contradicting oneself in that manner is a sure sign that the person is either being dishonest or simply doesn't understand the basic science behind global warming.

Clearly if the warming is natural, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.  If it's man-made (and most of it is), then we need to do something about it.

Beck's contradiction illustrates that he either doesn't understand the first point, or he's purposefully deceiving his viewers while knowing the truth.  From what I know about Beck, either scenario could easily be true.