Posted by Dave on 02/26/07 at 06:19:44 pm
Categories: Environment

I had an interesting conversation with a person about the merits of the argument stating that humans are a significant factor in global warming. Of course, the person I was discussing this with also wanted to question whether there was such thing as global warming.

Here is my problem with critics of the human involvement in global warming argument. The vast majority of scientists believe that there is a global warming problem. And the vast majority of scientists believe that this is, at least in part, due to the actions by humans.

Yet the critics believe that this a "fraud." They believe that Al Gore's only motivation for his environmental activism is political. Yet they cannot point to any political benefit for Al Gore. Al Gore has been passionate about global warming, not for years, but for decades. He was passionate about global warming far before global warming became "political." He was passionate at a time where few people cared about weather patterns, and even more so, few votes (if any) votes would be gained by bring global warming to the attention of the American people. Yet his critics make the argument that he is passionate for political reasons. But why?

I see very little significant reasons for those of us who believe that there is a global warming to push forth such an agenda other than legitimate concern for the environment and future. On the other hand, I see significant financial reasons for the critics to oppose such an agenda. It is not insignificant that many of those critics of global warming arguments are financially supported by big businesses, and more specifically the energy sectors.

So for those who believe that the global warming argument is a "fraud," I believe it is your responsibility to show what would motivate people to perpetuate such a fraud. It is easy to figure out why critics would want to claim that global warming arguments are fraudulent, but it is more difficult to show why those of use would be motivated to push forward the global warming fraud.

So here is my question, especially for those who choose not to believe in global warming or the human involvement in changing weather patterns? What political motivations has Gore had to talk about global warming? And what motivations would others have to bring attention to global warming as a human problem if it were a fraud?

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