This comment came to me by E Mail in response to yesterday’s blog about Climate Change.  You can read my response after the letter.

Hi Bob,

I’m not saying I agree with everything the government has to say about global warming and the causes, but I also don’t just throw out conservation in my life simply because I don’t agree 100%.   Whether it is a natural pattern that the earth goes through or the fact that we put all kinds of crap in our atmosphere, there is definitely a difference in our climate that even a non-scientifically trained person can see…it is that obvious.  What isn’t as obvious are the reasons for that change, but honestly, I would rather err on the side of being conservative and doing positive things that save our natural resources and save me money in the time of economical trouble. SUVs are gas-guzzlers…when I can I choose to drive our car that uses the lowest grade of fuel and has the highest gas mileage. And, I try to carpool whenever possible, or I find myself just driving less…I don’t like paying money for gasoline when I have more interest in keeping my employees employed.    I only keep the light on in the room in which I am sitting, working, etc.  In fact, in my five offices at work, we don’t even put lights on until the afternoon in order to conserve energy and money.  And, we dress cooler or warmer so that we don’t have to use heat and a/c as much…the office next door runs their a/c all day so they can keep their sweaters on and be comfortable…tell me that isn’t wasteful.     Keeping lights on when you don’t need them is a waste of energy and MONEY regardless of whether it does or does not have a negative impact on the environment…  And, I did have Christmas lights up this year, but I made sure they were on a timer so that they were only on for a short while.  If we weren’t home the lights were not on.  I also recycle…recycling does cut down on our wastefulness of products that can be used again…and so on.  No matter the reason, whether you are a staunch global warming advocate or simply a person trying to save a buck where you can…conservation is something we all need to do more of…that is what is obvious.

A little scientific evidence would be helpful to back up your opinion…otherwise; I think the only thing you are making obvious is your opinion and not the reality of the subject you chose to blog about.  

Darlene

Hi Darlene

Thanks for your comments.

For starters, I do not always list info on every blog. It depends upon the style. Sometimes, my purpose is brief political satire. Other times I am more detailed and forthcoming with specific information.

Still, (at the risk of sounding simplistic) I think record cold winters would count as a little scientific evidence, or at least evidence from a thermometer or evidence from an open window.

Many scientists do dispute Global Warming. They have written articles that have always been around for anyone who wants to see them. I am not a scientist and I would never claim to be, so, as a general rule, I will leave it to others to write about science with the hard statistics and data. My own concerns are in the areas of freedom. If some scientists are disputing Global Warming and others are not, debate is in order and the Politically Correct powers-that-be should not try to silence such debate. The only observation I was making in yesterday's blog is that we are having a record cold winter, that the world has been cooling for the last three years, and that people are switching the term to Climate Change, when before, they insisted on the term Global Warming.

Throughout history there have been many periods of radical climate change apart from man, such as the Ice Age and its melting, when no humans were even around. In Ancient Rome there was also a time when the weather got warmer in an unusual way for many years. Having said that, freedom of speech and freedom to live our lives without government interference is always my chief concern. If somebody wants to believe in Global Warming, that is their business, but when they start telling the rest of us what to believe and that the debate is over, this I take issue with. I do not believe there is any subject on Earth that cannot be debated.

If you are interested, I could point you to meteorologists who do not believe we are responsible for Global Warming: For example, John Coleman who invented The Weather Channel is one such man and I have used his name on my show and on my blog before.

Paleoclimatologist, Dr. Tim Patterson, professor in the department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa would be another reference.

Finally, a 2007 Senate report, referred to 400 prominent scientists around the world who either dismissed Global Warming or at least were not convinced that people had anything to do with it.

(U.S. Senate committee on environment and public works Dec 20 2007)

I do agree that we should conserve, etc. My point about Christmas lights is that a city council was using Global Warming as an excuse to challenge the legalities of using the term "Christmas" and I doubt that conservation was their honest agenda.

Warmest Regards

Bob Siegel

In case you missed it, here is yesterday's blog which inspired today's:

And the King Never Knew the Sky Was Falling!