I'm listening to Bush give a speech on addressing the problem of human-induced climate change.

How irate it must make all of global warming deniers in here!

Perhaps it'll comfort you to know that he won't do a damn thing about it, and it'll be left to the next president to address.

Which I'm all for, actually. Why bother trying to craft a policy with this bunch? Wait until January and do it right.

quote:

Perhaps it'll comfort you to know that he won't do a damn thing about it, and it'll be left to the next president to address.

So we'd be at the same point we were when Gore left office.

Or released his movie.

Or flew all over the world to accept awards for the movie. Good thing he didn't land on an aircraft carrier with a "Victory" banner behind him. Then he would be the idiot.

greenlings? just because there is a problem does not mean it is not solvable. All suppossed impossible ideas and tasks have at least 10 people who chant it cant be done versus the 1 who believes it can. So far the inventors, scientists, engineers, astronomers, physicist, writers, leaders who thru out human history have proven attitudes like yours Westside wrong.

We have landed on the moon, we do have people who live in space, we have proven the earth is round and orbits the sun. We do fly in airplanes and can travel faster than the speed of sound. All problems have solutions regardless if people with your attitude believe they dont.

Don't worry about Steve. This is the same schtick, different post.

No one can do anything. All politicians are the same. Get off my lawn.

Carbon tax time. Set that market free. And I hope there's a patent for you in there somewhere, Sev.

So is anyone upset with Bush for acknowledging that human-induced climate change is a problem?

He is on his way out as a lame duck president who led us in the lowest value of the dollar in 10+ years, the biggest defecit, eroded the most fundamental constitutional protections ever by any president, erased the social security reserve, led the worse response in US history to a natural disaster (we had Cuba offer us help!!) overextended our military probably to the point of breaking, Mired us in at least a decade long money sucking occupation (because he is geographically/internationally incompetent), used executive privelage like Putin (remember he looked into his eyes comment)(soon to be dictator of russia) to hide all of his political influence of justice department abuses, Oh of course we are not in a recession and losing more jobs overseas with the largest trade imbalances in history, let oil and gas companies turn world record breaking profits while we pay more, health care and education costs have risen uncontrollably with also record profits, let drug companies start direct marketing to unqualified consumers...

Jesus the list is so long that amongst all of the republican money scandals and abuses and Cheney doing god knows what with no bid contracts going to the company he was president of making billions from the war.. This honestly just does not surprise me. How did I almost forget Bush WAS a backer of the Intelligent design movement until his own federal appointee judge ruled against creationism repackaged.

Honestly nothing that may come out about him will surprise me, The Plame incident with the CIA pissed me off and I still think Cheney out to jailed and executed along with Libby for Treason.

Steve the next president cant halt what China or India does, However as the worlds leading producer we can definately take substantive measures. The only way we can pressure China and India is by leading by example and making technologies available to them at a affordable cost by developing them ourselves. It all starts with acknowledging the problem and making it a high priority as a culture and at the govenmental level.

I just told you. You need to implement a carbon tax to discourage polution and incentivize entreprenuers to come up with cleaner ways to power America and the world. That's the main idea.

Then you've got to figure out an international agreement that gets the rest of the industrialized countries on the same page. Most of them already are.

So is global warmning a problem that needs to be addressed, as you suggest in your second paragraph, or nonsense about the sky is falling, as you suggest in your first paragraph? Or do you just not know what you're talking about, and think getting pissy is fun?

Oh, I forgot the obvious answer: global warming is a problem but we can't do anything about it.

And get off my lawn.

Steve recently accused me of being uninformed about politics. As opposed to Steve, who is willfully, proudly, and gleefully MISinformed.

I just read papers and watch TV. He seems hardwired into that Otherworld Propaganda Mill that feeds Cal's, uhm... brain. Whatever you wanna call it. The part of him that receives and stores nonsensical right wing bullshit.

His problem is that he mistakes his bad mood for wisdom.

Um, sure. People love everything about Bush but the gas prices.

...Where do you come up with this stuff? Come back down here with the people who don't drool and eat with their hands.

You know, it's funny getting lectured by people with the canard that I "want government to solve all the problems", and then when you propose the market solution that most every expert agrees on you're accused of hoping for change. Change that will never happen. (Are those kids still on my lawn?)

I guess you'll just have to let other people address the problem, Steve, and you can hide out in your bomb shelter with your canned goods and your guitar. But it really doesn't have to be that way.

Do you remember how we addressed the problem of the ozone hole? What did you say then, that IT AIN'T GONNA CHANGE.

Because if you say it in CAPS, that makes it true.

Is it that hard to see that a basic law of economics applies here -- that if you tax something, you'll get less of it?

And if powering your car or plant or business by burning fossil fuels is more expensive than powering it with a cleaner technology, do you think you'll encourage people to create new and better ways to power cars or plants or business without using fossil fuels?

There's a company in Arizona developing a way to grow algae in the desert and use that as a biofuel. No diversion of crops for fuel. No emissions whatsoever. And algae grows fast. Yes, it's almost like American entrepenuers are working on this already! Maybe we should encourage more firms to do this type of work!

Or we can bitch about nothing can be done and ready ourselves for the coming Malthusian war.

Oh yes, it's clear, Steve. You don't know what we can do. Thankfully, there are people who do. So just get out of the way.

Hey, look! Here's another firm doing the same thing in Texas!

http://gas2.org/2008/03/29/first-algae-biodiesel-plant-...online-april-1-2008/

In some ways Steve you are probably right, the human animal does not usually when its comfortable willingly take measures that will specifically make it uncomfortable. Planning for the next decades envirement is really a cerebral enterprise and action not something that pays dividends for our immediate desire for some sort of payoff.

I can do the math and thru some very simple algorithims postulate that your projections are probably pretty accurate. I agree extremely that Ethanol is one of the dumbest negative net returns for greenhouse gas reductions. your projections based upon today's trend in China, India and some south american countries as well as ours that population is increasing at a unsustainable (the earths ability for food production to feed the worlds populations) rate.

I dont think you are stupid, pessimistic a bit yes. Here is where we mainly diverge, I see our ability as the worlds consumer and sole remaining super power (temporarily/ rising china and probable totalitarion russia) have the ability with a more liberal EU to greatly influence China and India thru technological innovation and cultural level changing our priorities. My other country (south Korea) has greatly benefitted from the ingenuity and will of the American people. We are still free and prospering because of U.S. will, that strength of vision and determination are not gone from this country. We have a little to much corporate and hollywood influence with a me/I attitude right now, but I saw the true spirit of this country (temporarily) after 9-11 and working in the early 90's with U.S. military personnel.

When have you last been TRULY INSPIRED? Truthfully for me it was watching the fireman and volunteers flock to New york and even in my industry of selfish self promotion in the finance world seeing the donations of monies to help. The will is here to be able to change the world, this country once it decided to enter WW2 brought to bear so much might that the world shook. I am a product of this countries belief in ideas that are larger than the individual and take sacrifice in order to achieve. I would not be here nor my children if this country and culture were not capable to accomplish goals as lofty as freedom in other parts of the world. That is why I believe that we can change and alter the very fabric of how our world currently operates. This country for all of its flaws has a greatness that is currently unmatched in the world today.

Holy cow, Sev! That was great.

Where are those terrorists? Let me at 'em!

PS - No one who shits on ethanol is going to get an argument from me. I'm shitting on it for work as we speak.