take THAT, Al Gore

[denelian]

i'm ambivilant on the whole global warming thing. on the one hand, i know that the climate makes little changes ALL ON ITS OWN, and there is proof that we are just going though a little change that is NORMAL. and i am very anti-winter, so i'm still not seeing a problem. on the OTHER hand, i am at least partially for eco-study, even if i think most people who are "green" are much too rabid.
but!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070324/ap_on_sc/arctic_bonanza

seriously - cheaper gas would be nice, until we have alterna-fuel

Comments

[christraven.livejournal.com]

There is still no reason not to switch to more eco-friendly fuel sources, even if they don't cause global warming.

One thing we seem to forget is that fossil fuels not only provide our gasoline/petrol fuel, but they also provide the basis for plastics, lubricants, and a host of other chemical wonders. Many of these, once they are in their final form, cannot be recycled into anything else useful (i.e. tyres - which can only be retreaded so many times before they have to be ground up into playground ground-cover).

My suggestion is this: go ahead and switch over to hydrogen, or sugarcane ethanol, or electric/solar power, or what-have-you to power our vehicles. Specifically to power our vehicles. Then we continue to use the fossil fuel oils to make lubricants, plastics, and other such materials. This way, everyone is happy - the greedy oil companies, and the greenies who have had their pet projects acknowledged by the rest of the world.

And another couple of thoughts:

1) Ambient heat from power plants, furnaces, smelters, and incinerators - how much do those contribute to global warming? Think of it as a house; your stove doesn't do much to warm the area you're in right away, furthest from the stove, but after a while the air molecules get excited enough to let you feel warmth. We are, as a species, not a very observant one, and it sometimes takes things smacking us in the head before we say "OH! Right." There are some locations that store metal for smelting at 1200 degrees F. STORE it, not process it. The amount of power it takes to sustain that, as well as the amount of heat bleed-off it generates can be staggering. One may not make much difference, but several thousand?

2) What happens if all of the cars in the world go to hydrogen power? Venting that "harmless" water into the environment? Humidity goes up. Dew-point counts and moisture rates climb. And we're stuck with some of the same problems, because everyone's generating steam and/or water exhaust, which can then exacerbate the situation by taking out ground cover, cause flooding, etc. We would also have to redesign pavements and roadways because they would be suffering the constant effects of a situation equivalent to constant rainfall. Just another nugget to think about.

And now, since I've gone on waaaaay too long, I shall take my leave of you. :D

[denelian.livejournal.com]

you have said NOTHING that i disagree with - my only point is that i think global warming has been over-hyped. *I* want a hydrogen car (or a jetson car!)

[christraven.livejournal.com]

I don't think GW has been over-hyped (because I think we should stop being such stupid fucking resource-greedy pigs), but I do agree that the fervor that some people approach it with is akin to a religious conversion with no moral barometer.

I think Hybrids are a great idea, but people need to take the South Park approach to it - don't be such fuckin' smug-asses driving around in them.

[denelian.livejournal.com]

hehehe...

and this is why i luffs you

a religion is fine. a fanataism is not ;)