Re: I sure miss Bill Clinton!
Pointer,<br /><br />Gee, so glad you remembered me! I am doing well, thanks for asking... I kind of doubt that my kind of input was very much "missed" by many here, though. I finally got the heck out of here when some doofus said I needed to be "spanked" for expressing an opinion that ran counter to his... Then I thought, "I'm actually spending precious TIME on this?!" Still and all, you were always one of the more respectful ones even in avid disagreement, and generally more intelligent in your thought train as well.<br /><br />Which is why I find this particular comment ,<br /><br />"How can it be getting worse now that our cars produce less than 95% of what they produced 20 years ago, and no more freon, and aerosol cans are gone, and elimination of coal plants. I forgot, it is all our fault. "<br /><br />a little on the disingenous side. <br /><br />I mean, haven't you noticed the expansion of our population, and the commensurate increase in the number of cars on the road? THAT'S how it can be getting worse! Not to mention that every third household these days seems to drive at least one rig that gets about the same mileage as my 1961 Ford pickup truck got, plus maybe two more of "average" fuel economy (maybe 20-30mpg, easily attained by a 1974 Datsun). It may be true that generally each car produces less of certain molecules, but we are most certainly making more exhaust gas in the total count. That's why we need more oil! And the "elimination" of coal fired plants? Come on! That's just plain UNTRUE! My little podunk utility out here in the west, even though we own a share in certain Hydro projects, still uses coal fired electricity in the mix. Please! Stick to facts!<br /><br />I agree that giving China a pass on ANYTHING is a stupid idea, but lets not weep too much for the poor Americans having to tighten the belt a little on opulent lifestyles. That will come eventually, either way. We can face it like grownups, or we can stick our collective heads in the sand and refuse, in the name of personal freedom, to give up any luxury that we've become accustomed to until we can't even breathe the air, or until we can't get enough fossil fuels at ANY price, whichever comes first. <br /><br />And nukes? Please! I live near one, now mothballed at ratepayer expense, spent fuel stored just upriver from me, in 1973 technology containment facilities, because it proved too uneconomical to keep running, after less than 30 years of use. An initiative to keep the ratepayers from shouldering the decommissioning expense was narrowly defeated by a massive disinformation campaign that claimed that there was no chance of it being shut down, that everything was just hunky dory. Less than 60 days after the election, it was promptly shut down, at ratepayer expense. People of all political persuasions got lied to and shafted on that deal. Another nuke plant about 50 miles north of me never was even completed due to massive and unprecendented cost overruns and fraud. This has been proven to be a bad idea on so many levels, but especially cost, that is seems really weird that the "conservatives" are so into it. And the "just stick all the poisonous and deadly radioactive stuff in nevada" idea seems pretty shortsighted and immature to me. But hey, that's just me. <br /><br />Global warming not "proved"? Gee, neither were WMDs in Iraq, but our commander in chief thought that it wouldn't be prudent to wait for proof; we had to act NOW! Then when it comes to global warming, there would never be enough proof EVER, to convince some people of the need for action. You want to study the thing to death like the liberals? Geez! <br /><br />Meanwhile, the 60 degree ocean water carrying TUNA for god's sake, is all the way up to the canadian border and beyond, salmon are in steep decline again, seabirds and fish dying of starvation, out here on the coast that used to produce some of the biggest biomass of rich seafood in the world. The whole upwelling cycle that keeps the whole thing going is all out of whack this year, and has been acting strange and unpredictable for several years running. Almost any honest look at weather statistics will show record high temperatures being set in various places at least near where I live, year after year since the early 90's. Is that due to global warming? I don't know, I don't have the "proof' and i doubt that it could be had in quantities great enough for the repubs EVER, no matter who came up with it. It does seem like ever increasing high temperatures would indicate a "warming" trend, or is that not good science?<br /><br />I can empathize with your frustration with the libs, always pushing some pushy agenda to solve a problem that most of them can't even adequately and intelligently describe, but that hardly proves that the problem doesn't exist or that if it does, more of the same is the best cure.<br /><br />I didn't read your list of suggestions above all that closely, so I may be wrong when I say that it seems like your plan mostly consists of more of the same. Develop and consume more fuel, faster, with the occasional tax break for feel-good stuff like hybrid vehicles. That is hardly a bunch of new ideas. <br /><br />I'm not necessarily in favor of Kyoto, but neither do I think that messing with the carbon cycle at the scale that western man has done in the last hundred years could possibly be done without altering the atmosphere. To say otherwise is what seems like "junk science" to me.<br /><br />kind and respectful regards,<br /><br />Mark
