Environment, economy...or politics?

I know that this issue is a topic in many of this blog’s posts, but I simply can’t help it. I’m fascinated by the global warming debate. To me, I think it epitomizes much of what’s wrong with American politics. And now President Bush will address the issue in his annual State of the Union speech next week. Personally, I’m a little disappointed. The President has always shared my opinion on global warming – basically, we need more research – but now it appears that he has yet again folded to political pressure. Remember, this is a man who had both houses of Congress and still failed to achieve much of anything, mainly because he allowed his policy to be altered by the whiny minority.

But it’s the hypocrisy of this issue that really gets me. Let’s take a look. On one side, the "believers". These are the environmentalists, socialists, tree huggers, whatever you want to call them. For the most part, this is the political Left, which adds intrigue to the issue. They believe that humans are changing earth’s climate and we are headed for an imminent global disaster. If we don’t "change things" soon, it will be too late. And their idea of changing things is quite unrealistic. It involves punishing big business (a common battle cry for the Left) and drastically altering our way of life despite how that may affect the economy top-to-bottom.

But wait a minute. This is the political Left, the liberals, the anti-establishment-question everything-spawn of the 60s crowd who have been raised on the foundation of intellectualism and independent thought. Yet, we’re talking about an issue that is based on questionable scientific evidence. At best, the intellectual thing would be to say that more information is needed before we know the truth about global warming – or, in short, what I currently recommend. But the intellectuals aren’t doing that. They are virtually ignoring ALL of the counter evidence which is just as credible as what they’re accepting. They’re going against their very instinct of making sound informed decisions. So what’s with this lemming-like acceptance of a scientific theory riddled with holes and based on questionable evidence? What happened to the independent thought? The question-everything attitude? Well, of course, I have my ideas.
You see, global warming is not an environmental issue or an economic issue. Global warming, like everything else, is a political issue. That’s why the Left has adopted it as gospel. Global warming represents the evils of corporate America. It’s symbolic of what rich people do to poor people. It’s the ultimate socio-enviro nazi theory…big business is killing us all. If you took a similar amount of evidence and applied it to the counter theory…stating that big business is GOOD for your health, what would the Left’s response be? I don’t have to answer that question. Thus, the hypocrisy is evident. But we can take it a step further.

Suppose human induced climate change is real. Suppose the fossil fuels we burn are destroying the planet. Well, there’s an easy fix. Right now, 80% of our electricity is generated by burning coal. Yes, in the 21st century coal is still our primary source of energy. Why? Because it seems the enviro-nazis fear nuclear power more than they fear the global warming disaster. Now, there is no credible evidence that shows that nuclear power is harmful. In fact, there are quite a few credible theories that suggest small doses of radiation are actually healthy…but who cares about scientific evidence? Certainly not the global warming hysterics. But it doesn’t change the fact that within a decade we could convert to nuclear power and virtually eliminate the coal-burning, making the environment cleaner and safer. Yes, it may be costly up front, but isn’t it worth it?

But the enviro-nazis aren’t with it. They fear nuclear power because they’ve seen the Hollywood films showing how bad it is. They have nightmares of mushroom clouds and mega-meltdowns that kill us all (interestingly enough, they don’t seem as bothered about terrorists and WMDs). Plus, converting to nuclear power may actually be profitable for big business, which is the whole point of the Left's opposition isn't it? No, they will never accept this. What they want is for us to give up our luxuries, give up our way of life, live "within our means"…or basically regress from a scientific point of view. Is this realistic? Has it EVER been done in human history? Were there enviro-cavemen telling their friends that the wheel is bad, and they should all give up fire? No. And it never will be done, which is fine with the Left because it means that they have a permanent complaint against big business. They have their political issue, their topic for debate, their "fight for the little man". It really is quite ridiculous. The hypocrisy has come full circle.

So, until the enviro-nazis are ready to actually DO something about global warming, I don’t want to hear them complain. Remember, a standing rule on this site is that if you don’t have a solution, then don’t complain about the problem. The solution is simple. We have the technology. We have the resources. We can put an end to this debate. We can "save" the environment. The question is: Are they ready to do it? If not, then it obviously isn’t much of a concern, unless you’re a politician.