The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Is It Hot in Here, or is the G8 Crazy?

I have to admit, creating a fear of naturally occurring phenomena like the weather and temperature in order to achieve power while providing a justification to steal both money and freedom is medieval, but conceptually brilliant.

Taking a page from Christopher Columbus and telling uneducated natives (and/or those who received a government education) during an eclipse, “Give us your trinkets and corn and we’ll bring the sun back,” the G8 participants are pretending they have any ability to control the temperature, and if we (and most importantly our wallets) follow them, we’ll be safe

Derailed: Is There A Better Way to Tackle Climate Change? - Environmental Capital - WSJ

The biggest benefit is that making the energy and industrial sectors more efficient saves money. That should appeal to rich and poor countries alike, the authors say, and even global-warming skeptics.

So how to get there? A modest carbon tax which would finance more government investment in clean technology, the authors propose, citing the technophiles at the Breakthrough Institute: “The core argument of the Breakthrough Institute is an elementary political truth, namely that clean energy will only advance radically when it is made cheaper than dirty energy at point-of-use by the consumer.”

Cap and trade — and you - Opinion - USATODAY.com

Cal Thomas is a conservative columnist. Bob Beckel is a liberal Democratic strategist.
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Cal: In a past column, we have agreed on the need to explore new energy sources. You believe this will help stem global warming — which I think is fiction — and I …

Bob: I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt. Cal, at some point you have got to get out of the Flat Earth Society so many of you conservatives buy into. This ship has sailed, and by many estimates, it'll be sailing on higher seas at the rate we're going. The most comprehensive study to date by the nation's leading scientists, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,"makes the case that global warming is already affecting our water resources, coastal areas, forests, fish and wildlife and much more. Conservatives scream about leaving a huge federal debt for our children and grandchildren. How about worrying about leaving them a planet that is still habitable? Debt can be paid off. Climate change could be irreversible.

Cal: Are you done? I can trot out my own scientists to shout down the global warming alarmists, but lest this piece become hand-to-hand combat on climate change, let's stick to the energy issue.