Running with Lemmings

Here's a brief test of your knowledge of global warming. If you're frustrated at why some folks don't seem overly alarmed, then take this quiz and read the answers; it will help you understand.

But let's say that you won't accept this alternative view – the peer pressure is keeping you on the alarmist bandwagon. If you've swallowed the "humans are ruining the planet" bait hook, line, and sinker, then let me explain why I take issue with it.

Religion
Radical environmentalism has become a religion. It has a god, orthodoxy and heresy, prophets, sins, and a looming apocalypse. They've even begun selling indulgences (carbon credits). It's a weird self-loathing, pantheistic concoction but it's a religion nevertheless. Eco-evangelist Al Gore called global warming a "spiritual crisis" just this week. Gore's 1992 book was subtitled, "Ecology and the Human Spirit."

Any philosophy or religion that is so militantly bound by dogma will be a danger to our liberties. It will seep into the lives of every person, punishing us for our sins and insisting on our devotion.

Science
Sorry but the science isn't there. Global warming is caused by the sun and other factors outside of our control and the planet has been steadily warming since the dawn of recorded history. Warming has been "normal" for some 5,000 years; it keeps the glaciers from covering the continent again. It's the next ice age we should be concerned about.

The facts show that warming in the last few decades has been negligible and the temperature has changed more dramatically, both hotter and cooler, in periods of history when the human population had little or no effect on global climate. Humans just don't play a major role on the global stage, so why make costly decisions without proof?

Politics
A lot of people want and/or need a global warming emergency, apart from any facts. Man-made climate catastrophe is a cause to rally around. In its name, private property can be seized, taxes and fines can be levied, and behavior can be controlled. Bureaucrats can view global warming as job security. Scientists can secure funding and esteem by toeing the line of orthodoxy. Celebrities and politicians can ride to the rescue of the masses by stirring up and then appealing to their fears. Socialists can subvert capitalism, democracy, and civil liberties in the name of the greater good. Other countries can endorse the solution knowing it is going to hurt America first and foremost.

[Thanks Jim R. for the heads up on the quiz.]