[Bioconversion] Global Warming (was Conserve -- Even the Air Force Wants to Cut Oil's Role)

Tue Jun 19 22:59:03 EDT 2007

Regarding the discussion of global warming, peak oil, biosphere collapse,
especially Harmon's last, you might find the following links and books
beneficial. I think these are some of our top experts and luminaries on the
subject of the great paradigm shift from the carbon-energy world to the
post-carbon world.

No one knows specifically what will happen in Nature because the situation
we have created is unprecedented.  WE may have already reached "Earth's
tipping point".  But I'm finding in my research and I sense in my heart,
that there's a lot we can do and some wonderful opportunity to create a
better world than ever before.  That new world may have a pleasant or
unpleasant birth -depends on what we do or don't do, and Nature's unknowns.
But one hopeful theme which I read and feel consistently:  we continue to
write our destiny every day, and Nature is standing beside us, writing as
she sees us write.  And I wonder if there is not another ingredient in the
recipe that could come into play --mercy.  In any case, why not try to do
the best we can, for all the children of the future, and for Nature, our
exquisite life-support system and innocent companion?  It'll be a lot more
fun than despair and morbidity, and will help us fulfill our natural role as
stewards of the Earth life.

Phil

http://globalpublicmedia.com/  (audio and videos conversations)

http://www.peakmoment.tv/conversations/  (video conversations)

http://www.postcarbon.org/outposts   (community change to mitigate effects
of global warming & peak oil)

http://www.nrdc.org/  (one of the best NGOs working to "  ")

http://www.worldwatch.org/ ( " " )

http://www.earth-policy.org/ ( " " )

DVD:  "Crude Impact",  "The Great Turning"

Books:  

The Party's Over - Heinberg

Plan B 2.0  - Lester Brown

The Long Emergency  - Kunstler

Power Down  - Heinberg (short and to the point, but less background the
above books)

Philip Anderson
Sustainable Living Design

Life support & life style in partnership
 with Nature and in harmony with the heart

11801 Pine Court
Monrovia, MD 21770-8802   USA     

Phone (301) 335-6051
Fax (301) 865-3642

  solarphil at comcast.net

-----Original Message-----
From: bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:bioconversion-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Harmon Seaver
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 9:30 PM
To: Discussion of biological conversion to fuels and chemicals
Subject: [Bioconversion] Global Warming (was Conserve -- Even the Air Force
Wants to Cut Oil's Role)

   Myself, I find the whole discussion/controvery/whathaveyou re global
warming to be quite irrelevant at this point. Anyone who thinks that
very significant warming isn't happening is either not paying attention
or pretty much braindead. Whether it's man-made or not is pretty much
irrelevant also, because there is very, very little that anyone could do
at this point to reverse course in a significant enough way to matter
before the glaciers were all melted.
    If every car in the world were turned off permanently today, and
every powerplant and factory smokestack and every household boiler --
would that even stop the process at this point? Slow it down a little
maybe? Is that going to happen? Is it possible to even shutdown 1/3 ??
Or even 10%???
   Not likely.
     And is the developed world going to say to China and India and all
the rest who are all now buying cars, etc --"We've got ours but you all
can't have the same." ???  And no politician is even going to propose
rationing or anything meaningful. Heck, if you put it to a referendum in
the US it would never pass.
    So do you have any reality based solutions for it?

David Neeley wrote:
> By positing those who are skeptics as "deniers" you immediately
> emotionalize the issue.
> 
> An extremely good resource is the Cambridge Conference Network
> newsletter, which contains articles and commentary on all sides of the
> issue.
> 
> One problem in the discussion is that there are actually very few
> scientists actually qualified to discuss climate change. For example,
> there are only about 80 individuals in the U.S. (and a similar number
> elsewhere worldwide) who actually have Ph.D. degrees in climatology.
> Quite a few of these, in fact, are people much more skeptical than you
> may imagine.
> 
> "Global Warming" is presently very much in the status of a
> religion--we are asked to accept much by faith that cannot be
> conclusively proven, and even that subject to other factors that may
> in fact describe the problem far better.
> 
> I have found no links between carbon concentrations and warming, for
> example. In fact, rising carbon levels generally come after
> significant warming measurements, not before. The only direct
> correlations that have been found thus far are between sunspot
> activity and warming, from what I can determine.
> 
> However, intelligent discussion of these issues is very hard to find
> on most fora. Many people simply accept what they are told is
> "scientific consensus" as some sort of holy writ without challenge.
> That, I'm afraid, is not scientific method.
> 
> My position is simple: I don't accept at face value many
> unsubstantiated claims--especially the hysterical ones such as Al
> Gore's over the top predictions based upon nothing I can find except
> his own investments in carbon offset brokers. His dire warnings of
> "twenty foot sea level rises" for example far exceed even the most
> pessimistic forecasts of those who are proposing global warming
> catastrophe--by a factor of ten or more, in fact.
> 
> David
> 
> 

-- 
Harmon Seaver

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