It seems that a half dozen green sea turtles washed up around the Outer Banks. The turtles were cold-stunned by the water temperatures. The turtles were transferred to an aquarium and will be later released into the gulf stream. They are expecting more turtles to show up since the lower than normal temperatures are continuing.

We the new focus on climate change, the President’s agenda could raise our energy bills despite the efforts we make as a family to conserve energy. The White House wants the US to cut carbon dioxide emissiosn in 2010 by 17 percent from 2005 levels. A goal was also set to cut emissions by 83% by 2050. This will supposedly translate into a cost of about $173 per year for an average family.

However, others have said the increase could be as much as $5 per day in high energy seasons such as winter and summer. This could translate into $150 per month additional costs. Unless the job market turns around soon, this amount could really hurt American families.

• The program, which will supposedly save an average of 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year adds up to only 0.21 percent of Australian emissions.
• Using the bulbs will reduce world emissions by 0.003 percent.
• The increase in the amount of coal that China will burn by 2020 is equivalent to 3 billion Ford Expeditions each driven 15,000 miles a year. (It would take Ford 15,000 years to sell that many Expeditions).

Unfortunately, these small changes really DO NOT make a difference. We need to look at the big picture and concentrate on solving the bigger and costlier environmental problems.

PS – Don’t forget that the compact fluorescent bulbs also contain mercury which is considered to be harmful in the environment as well.

Davies is quoted as saying “What’s the single most effective thing couples can do to play a part in combating global warming? It is to have no more than one child.” He also wants his plan to be considered by the European Union.

Stossel reported:

“They say the computer models that are used to predict the disasters don’t include important variables because scientists don’t fully understand them. For example, warming may cause cloud formations that reflect sun and cool the earth. The computer models cannot know. These scientists call global warming activism more of a religious movement than science.”

Stossel also reported on the British judge who ruled that Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” contains nine inaccuracies and these inaccuracies must be reported to students in the UK before viewing the film. One inaccuracy involves the “extinction” of polar bears. Stossel interviewed children who believed that polar bears are on the verge of extinction. Not so. The polar bear populations appear to be steady or increasing.

No doubt that our world is filled with pollution and mismanagement of resources. But if the issues are clouded in misinformation you will eventually become the boy who cried wolf.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for cleaning up the planet and using less resources. I just find it odd that someone can talk the talk, but not walk the walk.

“Richard Lindzen, the professor of Atmospheric Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology … recently claimed: ‘Scientists who dissent from the alarmism have seen their funds disappear, their work derided, and themselves labelled as industry stooges.’

‘Consequently, lies about climate change gain credence even when they fly in the face of the science.’”

It is interesting that there no longer exists a debate within science. Global warming fanatics simply want the other side to disappear. I found this quote by Thomas Sowell particularly enlightening:

“Would you bet your paycheck on a weather forecast for tomorrow? If not, then why should this country bet billions on global warming predictions that have even less foundation?”

Most of the people I know don’t even understand global warming. CO2 is seen as the enemy, when in fact 99% of the CO2 in the atmosphere is natural. Without CO2, there would be no greenhouse effect. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth’s temperature would be 0 F. It was that long ago in geological time (21,000 years ago) that New York was covered with glaciers. Those are all gone now. Global warming?