Awaiting the next Eco-scare

As I write this with my lights on, I am being reminded via the media of need to conserve. I wish I could remind them of the need to produce. If there's a shortfall in power, the answer is not an exhortation to conserve. Instead it must be one that prompts greater production.

At the risk of sounding greedy I must say, greater production and consumption is what will benefit the masses, than caps on production and limits on consumption. Rationing never did any body any good. The last I heard they were starving in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Now for all those who've had their lights off when mine were on, do take the time to read this,

'The striking fact about Earth’s temperature is its stability over geological stretches of time, without any sudden ups and downs. The Earth has seen Ice Ages — but they never reached the equator. It’s seen volcanic explosions, asteroid impacts, changes in the Earth’s tilt toward the sun. The Earth may have seen big variations in sun spots and cosmic radiation.

And yet, over the 200 million years of mammalian evolution the temperature hasn’t changed enough to kill the mammals. Mammals could not survive fast, cataclysmic temperature shifts of ten, twenty, thirty degrees. Instead, temperature changes have been slow enough and small enough to allow for migration and adaptation. Extinctions happen, but enough species survive to carry on the same basic DNA, proteins, cells, and organ systems over hundreds of millions of years. That is amazing. The most basic fact of biology is its stability over geological stretches of time. Life is not fragile, contrary to all the propaganda. Earth isn’t fragile. Life and the planet are amazingly robust. Think of it: hundreds of millions of years of essential stability.

Chances are that the Earth has many self-regulating feedback loops to keep things this stable. We have this convenient exchange with the plants — we breathe out what they breathe in, and vice versa. That leads to rock-solid stability, not wild swings in the necessary conditions of life. Catastrophic scenarios are more Planet Hollywood than Planet Earth. Al Gore may look ready to burst, but the planet will survive.

The Earth hasn’t blown up since animals and plants came into balance a billion years ago, give or take. But why not? Well, why don’t your brains boil over on a hot day in June? Because your body has a lot of self-regulating mechanisms that make for stability even in the face of moderate changes. You sweat more on a hot day, and your dog breathes faster with his tongue out. You can stay in the shade and drink more water. Self-regulation is the story of life. It keeps us alive: the same blood pressure, same temp, same O2 and CO2. Think of it as the Mother Gaia hypothesis of the earth. Moms are also designed to survive.

The real catastrophe of global warming is the human disaster: the deep rot in the sciences that’s been going on for decades by now, aided by corrupt politicians. Still, climate modelers are still fiddling with their models even if they have to bet on outgassing from the other end of the digestive tract. Is global flatulence the next eco-scare? The EPA can tax and regulate any physiological function, just like the medieval Church. Some day this will all sound really funny, but first we have to drive the crooks and the frauds out of science.'

Read the complete article here.