Yesterday was Earth Day, and before I get to my point let me share my memory of Earth Day circa 1970. I was in eighth grade at the time when the first wave of 60′s flower children were graduating and entering the teaching field. We were being warned of the dangers of aerosol hair spray, the evil automobile, and the coming ice age. So to celebrate and raise our early teen awareness we buried a Beetle. A Volkswagen Beetle. Dug a big hole behind the end zone, brought the student body to the funeral, and rolled the bug into the pit, where I am sure it is leeching oil, gas, and other toxins into the ground to this day.

To my point. In his remarks yesterday, President Obama declared, “no issue deserves more immediate attention than global warming.”

I beg to differ.

Without going into great depth, let’s list a few things that deserve more immediate attention.

The Economy — Unless I missed the memo, or my 401k statement is wrong, this problem hasn’t been resolved. Of course the actions of the first 13 weeks of the Obama administration have only exacerbated the problem or pushed it on future generations. White House energy proposals will contribute to the problem, not solve it. It certainly deserves more immediate attention.

National Security — Between an administration that seems hell-bent on weakening our defenses, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano who is apparently clueless about Homeland Security and history, and a President who apparently believes that the United States was evil incarnate until January 20th, 2009, national security has taken a back seat to national self-flagellation and weakening. You would think that something as crucial as national security would deserve a bit more immediate attention than the global warming scam.

Terrorism — Directly tied to the issue of national security is the continued threat of terrorist activity around the world, and inside our own borders. It would be delusional to think that global mea culpa’s and pretty promises are going to make single minded terrorist play nice. I would say that this definitely deserves more attention than global warming.

Those come quickly and easily to mind, even before I’ve had my second cup of coffee. They are far from being all-inclusive. In fact the list of things that deserve “more immediate attention than global warming” could become quite long. Off the top of my head, getting Janeane Garofalo off of “24″, finishing the staffing models I have to create before tomorrow’s deadline, getting Jessica Biel to agree to pop out of Wyatt’s birthday cake, and pulling for a Phillies repeat — all deserving more attention.

What would you put on the list? Comments are open folks. Have at it.

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I found this list via Stop the ACLU. It’s a list of things brought about by AGW. Here are just the A’s

Acne, agricultural
land increase, Afghan
poppies destroyed, Africa
devastated, African
aid threatened, Africa
in conflict, aggressive weeds, air
pressure changes, Alaska
reshaped, allergies
increase, Alps
melting, Amazon
a desert, American
dream end, amphibians
breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic
reactions to bee stings, ancient
forests dramatically changed, animals
head for the hills, Antarctic
grass flourishes, Antarctic
ice grows, Antarctic
ice shrinks, Antarctic
sea life at risk, anxiety
treatment, algal
blooms, archaeological
sites threatened, Arctic
bogs melt, Arctic
in bloom, Arctic
ice free, Arctic
lakes disappear, Arctic
tundra to burn, Atlantic
less salty, Atlantic
more salty, atmospheric
circulation modified, attack
of the killer jellyfish, avalanches
reduced, avalanches
increased

The links are to the original source where the claim is made.

Be sure to look through the links for items that are 180 degrees from each other. For example, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink

Isn’t consensus a beautiful thing?

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I’m pretty sure it was the first Earth Day. In the spring of 1970 I was a 14 year old 8th grader at Glassboro Intermediate School. In a preview of coming geekdom I was a member of the A-V squad tasked with setting up the sound system for the big event. I don’t remember a lot of things from thirty-eight years ago, but I do remember what was going on this day.

What we were being taught in those days was that DDT, aerosol spray cans, and (of course) the automobile were all destroying the planet. In fact we were being taught (and believed) that a new ice age was only a few years away, probably before we graduated from college.

A large percentage of our teachers were recent college graduates. In other words, they were coming from the campuses of the late 60′s. It was reflected in their dress, their teaching style, and their attitude about the world around them. Many of them were hippies with a teaching certificate.

The one thing I remember about that day was the emphasis on “making a statement”. It was all about the show, not the science. Perhaps not all that much different than today. Our object lesson wasn’t about picking up trash, planting a tree, or any such thing.

Our statement was made by burying a car. Really.

The student body gathered outside the track that surrounded the football field. There behind the building that housed Shop, Art, and Home-Ec classes they had dug a big hole big enough to contain a teacher’s old VW Beetle. And we buried it.

In the years since I’ve often thought about that day. I doubt that anyone thought (remember, this was all about the show) to make sure the oil and gas were all safely drained. As far as I know that heap is still decomposing under ground, leaching whatever toxic components in contained into the surrounding area.

But to a bunch of 6th, 7th and 8th graders it was cool to see a car buried; a great show.

I guess not much has changed after all.

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Unbelievably, Stupidly Amazing. Via Ace. I am too dumbfounded to even comment. Read the email exchange and see if you don’t feel the same way.

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Acolytes of the church of the Goracle are going to go nuts.

A chunk of Antarctic ice nine times the size of Manhattan has suddenly collapsed, putting an even larger glacial area at risk.

[...]

British scientist David Vaughan says it’s the result of global warming.

The entire article is very short, and Vaughan is the only one quoted.

What I found interesting was the last line.

The rest of the Connecticut-sized ice shelf is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice and scientists worry that it too may collapse. Larger, more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

And at how many times in the past?

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BUMPED: What, no comments?

Let’s start out 2008 with a Global Warming Caption Contest
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Brrr.

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In fact, he gets a minute and a half to answer Nurse Ratchet’s “show of hands” question. Here, by way of Don Surber, is what he told Radio Iowa in a phone interview.

We don’t know the extent to which it’s warming. We don’t know whether or not it’s part of a cycle. We’ve had cooling periods in our country. We don’t know the extent to which man-made causes are contributing to it. We don’t know what the long-term effect of it is going to be and what we can do about it. … If we unilaterally do things precipitously, not only will we damage our economy but we won’t be doing very much good at all unless countries like Russia, or mainly China and India, participate. … Before we start rushing off and having United Nations countries, you know, big as a postage stamp telling us what to do and what we must do and so forth, let’s double-down and make sure we understand the ramifications and the significance of what we know and let’s improve on what we don’t know.

Global warming, and what contribution man makes, has more questions than answers. The thing that concerns me is that rushing to action without fully understanding the problem could lead to consequences that are far worse than if we do nothing. Given what has happened in other similar situations (DDT, Alar, etc.), that’s not an unreasonable conclusion. Or, as Don put it,

We don’t know enough about the subject to have a definitive answer and without such, we do not really know what to do — and the UN is untrustworthy anyway. Let’s find out more.

Just because we are conservative and skeptical does not make us idiots or unscientific. As a matter of fact, it means we are more scientific. We want more information, more experiments and more study by actual climatologists — experts in that field.

Now, by a show of hands. Who thinks that’s a reasonable answer.

Whoops. Sorry.

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I can’t even watch the Eagles getting stomped without hearing Matt Lauer go on about global warming garbage. Worst of all was his assertion that they were going to have some of the “greatest minds” on the subject back in NY. . .like “Al Gore”.

Just let me enjoy my football fiasco in peace.

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I didn’t realize that the U.S. House of Representatives had this kind of power: House passes bill affirming global warming exists

What’s next?

House passes bill identifying Big Foot.
Easter Bunnies’ existence confirmed by the House.
Paris Hilton is a huge star says the House.

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Has The Weather Channel become the TBN of the religion of GWACBM?

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