"Stimpy" wrote in message
...
John Mullen wrote:
"Stimpy" wrote in message
...
John Mullen wrote:

I totally understand. Leaning towards the GW denial position allows
you to use fossil fuels without guilt.

...and leaning toward the 'sky is falling' position provides another
reason for guilt and self-righteous hand-wringing among the beard
'n' sandals brigade

Personally I prefer to believe things that are likely to be true. You
are of course free to believe whatever self-justifying crap you wish.

As indeed are you. The difference is, I know that I can do **** all about
GW, should it ever turn out to be man-made, in comparison to the
politico-industrial interests causing most of the pollution. Once they
make a significant difference (principally in the US, whose government
will
do bugger all about it to avoid upsetting it's industrial backers) then
I'll
think about not lighting a barbie and giving up motorsport. Until then,
I'm
not going to let it spoil my day

Absolutely true.

The only things I can think of you as an individual could do would be to use
public transport rather than a car where possible, and in general to limit
energy usage (sensible on cost grounds anyway). You could also lobby your
member of parliament to support sustainable energy rather than fossil fuel.
Beware though; the whole topic of environmental economics is enourmously
complex and controversial. An awful lot depends on the value you place on
things like having air you can breathe. Most agree they are important, but
their value is difficult to put a number onto.

Your barbie is probably CO2-neutral so you are ok there! Burning charcoal
merely returns the carbon the tree took from the atmosphere when it was
alive. Unless you have one of these ridiculous propane barbecues...

Personally I drive a car (diesel Peugot 205, ~50 mpg) and also own a motor
bike which I enjoy using to burn fossil fuels when I can. I also regularly
use trains (slightly better, though I know all the recent debate about this)
and planes (worse). So I am not trying to establish any kind of green moral
superiority here. I just couldn't let some of the GW denial bull**** go
unchallenged. Whether we like it or not, by blithely releasing all this
carbon (which was built up over millions of years) into the atmosphere at
once, we run a very strong risk of changing the planet's climate in ways we
probably won't like.

John