In September Enter Stage Right had the audacity to print a piece by Michael
Miller entitled "Greenhoax Effect". This piece forcefully argued
that the entire Greenhouse Effect debate was simply hot air. The planet
is not in danger and we should stop listening to irrational people who
have little evidence on their side, said Miller.
That month he forwarded me one rather angry letter from a man who took
great umbrage at what the article stated. The wrathful letter writer was
incensed that Miller would dare to hold such clearly heterodox opinions.
The writer was so angry that he forgot to do one thing: back his vitriol
with cold hard facts.
And therein lies the problem with the upcoming conference on global climate
change in Kyoto, Japan in December. Facts, or the lack thereof.
This is a fact that you can take to the bank: The global warming theory
is just that, a theory. It is a conjectural theory without enough evidence
to even earn the support of half of the scientific community.
Here are some more facts:
Since 1850 ground-level temperature measurements have increased 0.3C to
0.6C. Satellite data shows that the earth's temperature has not increased
in the last eighteen years. More than a few scientists say that the changes
in temperature are within normal fluctuations.
Several climatologists have stated that if no regulatory action is taken
for the next 25 years, there would be no appreciable impact on the environment.
Some of this bad science comes from a report entitled Climate Change
95, sponsored by the United Nations, done by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). One of the scientists on IPCC's peer review
panel, Dr. Vincent Gray, has thrown some cold water on the report.
According to Gray, the data presented in Climate Change 95 is
full of bias, and it is presented imprecisely and sloppily. Gray states
that the IPCC chose to use inaccurate models knowing full well that there
were more accurate methods of data collection to measure any temperature
change. Those methods, namely weather balloons and satellite images, show
no evidence of temperature change over the last 27 years.
The IPCC stated, a phrase now often quoted by governments and the media,
that "the balance of the evidence suggests a discernable human influence
on the climate."
Gray brushes that aside stating that humans are indeed influencing climate,
but that the data does not show any significant effect or whether it even
matters.
Some heady stuff there right? Not exactly what you've been told by the
media and your government?
That's not stopping your government from pressing on with moves to combat
this "problem" however.
Old Enter Stage Right foe and Canadian federal Natural Resources
Minister Ralph Goodale recently stated that if all other means failed,
the government would look at a tax to curb some of the gasses blamed for
global warming. It was the first time that a Canadian government official
hinted at the use of a carbon tax against fossil fuels.
In October, U.S. President Bill Clinton entertained 100 weather forecasters
at the White House and asked them to include concerns about global warming
in their reports. Clinton has also promised to reduce emissions to 1990
levels by 2008-2012.
Gore and Clinton are also making noise about a carbon tax, something which
may cost the United States up to $350-billion a year in lost output, or
about 4.2 per cent of projected GDP, assuming a $200 a tonne tax. Finally,
the Environmental Protection Agency is also looking at a tax on consumer
use of fuel, admitting recently that it is trying to do such a thing by
going around Congress who usually have say on these matters. The 1994
memorandum with these plans came only after two years of pressing by a
Congressional committee.
And so based on poor science, governments around the world are prepared
to unleash statist forces which threaten to place a drag on their economies
and once again place a boot on the throat of third world nations who are
facing more pressure to cut emissions now that they are making up a greater
percentage of the total emissions.
So how does one say "greenhoax effect" in Japanese?
Thanks for reading Gord Gekko
ESR News
October was a pretty good month for Enter Stage Right. On October
11 we were awarded the e.zine movement Silver Award. e.zine movement promotes
electronic journals, zines and magazines and we're proud to be a member
of their network.
ESR also continued to grow in terms of our readership. October
surpassed September's mark...let's keep it going!
We're looking for help from WebTV and AOL users. Looking through the logs
I've noticed that some of ESR's readers are using a WebTV set-up
or are AOL users. Not having access to either, I'm not sure how well ESR
translates on those systems. If you have either system please drop me
a line and tell me of any problems that you might have when going through
the pages. Thanks in advance for your help.
We also have a new page. Off the front page, and every article, there
is a link to a page with search engine forms. If you feel the need to
check up on us, or just want more information about a particular topic
being discussed, then our search page should help you out.
Last month in this section we told you that the Link Exchange banner had
been removed, and quite clearly we hadn't. It was a last minute decision
to keep the banner that made the ESR News section somewhat factually
incorrect. Our apologies. You'll notice that it's gone this month.
We offer email updates of upcoming issues. It's a low traffic, once-per-month
mail out which gives you the heads-up about the latest issue. If you want
in, just email us at gordgekko@geocities.com.