Unfortunately we now live in a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a straight story from people. The media (of all stripes) tends to report opinion rather than facts. They will have a pundit on from one side giving their view and then a pundit from the other side giving an opposing view. Then they typically wrap up the story with neither side agreeing and the viewer wondering what is the actual truth. I do put a lot of blame on journalists for this. It should be their job to research and report the facts. It's fine to have differing views on, but please, when somebody is talking out of their ass call them on it!
Back to the video. Click the link to watch it http://youtu.be/CZ-4gnNz0vc
The video makes a lot of claims that are either untrue or designed simply to put fear into the hearts of people. Fear of the evil liberals and progressives. By the way, I really don't think that most conservatives actually know the meaning of those words.
It starts out making the statement that if you wanted America to fail, "to suffer, not prosper, to despair, not dream. I'd start with energy." The rest of the video goes on to say that the only way for America to prosper is to use its cheap and abundant energy while showing oil rigs and coal production. It complains that politicians (obviously aimed at the Obama administration) want to make people feel guilty about using energy.
It then continues with the phony argument that schools had been teaching kids that an ice age was coming decades ago and now we have to worry about global warming. Of course if there is a cold spell, the name changes to climate change.
They make references to Al Gore preaching green technology while still using a lot of energy himself.
Then they talk about the free market being the be all and end all for prosperity.They attack regulations as evil things that must be removed or there will be no prosperity.
It ridicules efforts to protect endangered species. They call the environmental movement an economic suicide pact.
Wow!
Now let's take a look at some of these points. The cheap and abundant energy that they refer to is oil, natural gas and coal. All fossil fuels. These are people that have very little scientific knowledge if they don't believe that burning fossil fuels pumps tons of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. I think that it may be worse than that. They may actually be smart enough to know the truth but willfully ignore it because it is more profitable in the short term or too inconvenient to make the necessary changes.
For those that truly don't believe that climate change is real try this little experiment. Take two large jars (the bigger the better). Put a thermometer in both. Fill one with plain old air and the other with carbon dioxide (CO2), or if you have access to it, use methane (another greenhouse gas). Now put the jars out in the sun. Take a look at the thermometers. The one with the greenhouse gas inside will be at a significantly higher temperature. The greenhouse gases trap heat. That is precisely what is happening in our atmosphere.
Now I know very few of you will try the experiment for yourself, so that is why there are scientists that work on these things every day. They build models that make predictions, then they make observations that will either confirm or deny their predictions. The prediction that the world will get warmer with more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been proven, that's right, proven by observation.
If you can't accept peer reviewed science then you should not be driving a car or reading this on your computer. It is the same scientific method that has given us all the technology that we use and rely on today.
In regards to America only prospering if it uses its cheap abundant energy, this is folly. There would likely be short term profit and prosperity for those in those industries but the long term cost of climate change would dwarf that. The video implies that green energy is expensive. It is more expensive at the moment. That is why we need to develop those technologies faster so that they become more efficient economically. India is doing wonders promoting the use of solar and the prices have dropped to be competitive with other forms of energy in that country.
http://ecowatch.org/2012/ambitious-solar-program-in-india-driving-prices-to-impressive-lows/
Think about how much more prosperous America would be if it had developed good reliable clean energy in the forms of solar or wind or a myriad of other techniques. These are sources that will never be depleted. Oil, natural gas and coal are finite. Granted there is plenty of coal to last a long time, but then again we come to the fact that we are burning it. We are putting CO2 that was captured out of the atmosphere millions and years ago back into the atmosphere. If we burn a tree (still not good) but that is newly captured carbon that can be captured again by new trees. What we are doing when we burn fossil fuels is putting greenhouse gases that have been out of circulation back into the cycle. The only possible result is an increase in temperature or climate change.
The attack on Al Gore in unfounded. It is true that he uses a good amount of energy. We all do. It is the only way we can live our modern lifestyle. All the more reason for us to develop clean energy so we can still have that lifestyle without the negative consequences of burning fossil fuels. These are not limited to greenhouse gases. Over 2.4million people die every year from causes directly attributable to air pollution.
The video attacks regulations. Regulations are put in place for a good reason. To stop people or companies from doing things that harm others or the environment. News for you; we all live in the same environment! Obviously regulations should be well thought out and efficiently enforced but to say that they should be done away with so that profit can be made is short sighted and dangerous. The free market is good. Capitalism is good, but unbridled capitalism is as bad or worse than any other 'ism you wish to mention.
Protecting other species is of the utmost importance. When species go extinct it is a clear sign that something is wrong. Again, we live in the same environment as they do. Always better to ere on the side if caution than steamroll ahead with no regard to other species. Teddy Roosevelt, a conservative, created the National Park system.
Calling the environmental movement a suicide pact is ridiculous. Not doing what we can to protect the environment is sure suicide. Believing anything else is willful ignorance.
I have included some links to recent articles that show the effects of neglecting the environment. I strongly encourage you to read them. Maybe you will learn something. Having an open mind and accepting actual evidence is far more important that rigidly and blindly sticking to an ideology.
The Global Cooling Myth
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/01/the-global-cooling-myth/
Global Warming Has Driven Europe's Mountain Plants to Migrate 2.7m Upwards in 7 Years
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/275046_Global_Warming_Has_Driven_Euro
Antarctica Ice Melting Caused By Warm Water From Below, Study Claims
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/antarctica-ice-melting-study_n_1453179.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
State of Flux Images of Change
http://climate.nasa.gov/sof/#Icemelt_Alaska13.jpg
Fracking in Ohio
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/fracking_in_ohio.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+switchboard_all+%28Switchboard%3A+Blogs+from+NRDC%27s+Environmental+Experts%29
Oh, and for those interested, here are the definitions of liberal and progressive.
Liberal:
a. Not limited to or by established, traditional,
orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas
for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Progressive:
1. Moving forward; advancing.
2. Proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by
increments: progressive change.
3. Promoting or favoring progress toward better
conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods: a
progressive politician; progressive business leadership.
from TheFreeDictionary.com
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