Global Warming: What do you think? What do you know?

[CleanAzzE30z]

I cant believe people still need convincing. Its like people who think cigarettes and cocaine are healthy for you.



Mariano

[kroberts]

No one can deny that mankind is having an adverse effect on our planet.

That being said, did global warming lead to the demise of the last ice age? In a way, it did. However, I have a hard time believing that that global warming event was induced by mankind's rape of the environment.

The present trend is a natural, cyclical event IMHO. Its intensity is exacerbated by the presence of modern man, no doubt.

kr

[joshh]

MANY MANY people. And it's about cash.

[Maluco]

This is my question for people to think about...

Who benefits from the idea of global-warming?

for a while now and I imagine for some time to come, those being funded and all the spokespersons (in their many different forms)

It wasn't enough to try to obtain funding for alternative energy, something greater was needed that would allow much more to take place. I remember when the arguement was for more self-sustainability. I always laughed at people hating on SUV drivers. What about the companies that manufacture them? If they are ok to be manufactured, how in the hell is it not ok for them to be bought and driven as much as the person's finances desire. Shit is so twisted...

We hear about what goes on in other countries but I have witnessed it first hand many of times in my home country. Since as far back as I can remember, Brasil has had cars running on Alcohol, Natural Gas, a combination of natural gas and gas etc.. In 2005 Flex-fuel cars, running on any combination of ethanol and petrol, took 53.6% of the market there! Matter a fact Brasil has made ethanol-driven cars for 25 years! Did I miss anything of this sort taking place here or what? How did it jump to you humans and your big SUV's Global warming, turn the lights off shit...?

[uofom3]

This is my question for people to think about...

Who benefits from the idea of global-warming?

[uofom3]

^
that is true - what I am saying is that supply **could** come a LOT closer to meeting demand; even with demand being held constant or increasing at it's current or higher levels.

[nando]

oh, I know supply exists - I was talking to my boss at lunch, and he says there's a 100 year supply of oil in the tar sands in Alberta alone - enough to power all of north america (including growth). there is also a ton in the arctic, unexplored areas of asia, and under the ocean floor. but it becomes increasingly costly to get to - while demand simultaneously increases.

And yes, our refinery capacity isn't nearly enough, but the arabs are nearly tapped out - they don't have an interest in $100 oil prices, because it makes alternative energy sources (be it tar sands or electricty) more attractive. If they were able to increase production, they would do so - but they do not reinvest their profits back into oil exlporation, it goes into funding the governments of those nations.

it's not just a coincidence that oil has hit $100 a barrel (although part of that is the falling dollar, since barrels of oils are priced in USD). There is only so much supply, so many available resources to extract that supply, and a whole lot of demand.

[uofom3]

Case in point about alternative energy:

I was listening to a local talk radio show and a person called in about alternative energies. The guy claimed that he had a new way to generate power that would save money, help the environment, etc. Sounds great! But what was the guy doing? he was trying to get Government grants, etc. to help financially back his ideas. My question for the guy, and all of the rest of the altertnative energy people, is if these ideas are so awesome and we are all going to want it and it's going to change the way we live life; why wouldn't a private investor jump on it? I don't see it as a government job to invest taxpayer revenue into subsidizing the search for alternative energy when virtually across the board all of these "alternatives" are more expensive.

The exceptions to this are hydro-power, wind power, wave power - but the government (even liberals) wants nothing to do with that. They canned hydro-power around here, a bunch of leftists said that wind-farms were unsightly and damaged the natural beauty, they hate nuclear power, and apparently have not even heard of wave power.

[uofom3]

Regardless of what you think of global warming, we need to find something other than fossil fuels to power our economy - with increased competition from china and india for these resources, we can only expect prices to increase as well.

when gas was less than $2 a gallon, I wrote a speech (inspired by my astronomy professor) that warned about gas prices doubling and triplng because of a supply that was more difficult to reach and increased demand from developing nations. so far I've been right - $4/gallon gas was unimagineable back then, but I've beein paying almost $3.90 a gallon for the past two months. I won't be surprised when gas reaches $8 a gallon or more - but I will do what I can to use less of it. I've managed to reduce my gas consumption by 1/3rd within the last two months - that's money I can put into mods or track time. ;)

fossil fuels will probably always play a role, as there are situations where they are simply the best choice for energy requirements. But I wouldn't expect to see many Suburbans being driven four blocks to the corner store in 10 more years..

The supply exists - it's just a matter of getting to it. And it has nothing to do with it physically being difficult to attain (IN GENERAL - some of it is infact harder to get at).

The arabs can export us a LOT more crude than we can refine.

Biodiesel costs 60cents more per gallon than standard diesel.

Ethanol costs less than gas, but only works with equipped vehicles and costs more to produce (but is subsidized by the government).

The Germans were synthesizing gasoline in the 40's... i'm not buying that science can't replicate it today.

I don't have a problem with the idea of ethanol or some other "alternative" but I'm not seeing a very clear alternative here that doesn't cost a lot more money, or isn't subsidized by the government.

[nando]

Regardless of what you think of global warming, we need to find something other than fossil fuels to power our economy - with increased competition from china and india for these resources, we can only expect prices to increase as well.

when gas was less than $2 a gallon, I wrote a speech (inspired by my astronomy professor) that warned about gas prices doubling and triplng because of a supply that was more difficult to reach and increased demand from developing nations. so far I've been right - $4/gallon gas was unimagineable back then, but I've beein paying almost $3.90 a gallon for the past two months. I won't be surprised when gas reaches $8 a gallon or more - but I will do what I can to use less of it. I've managed to reduce my gas consumption by 1/3rd within the last two months - that's money I can put into mods or track time. ;)

fossil fuels will probably always play a role, as there are situations where they are simply the best choice for energy requirements. But I wouldn't expect to see many Suburbans being driven four blocks to the corner store in 10 more years..

[StereoInstaller1]

I skoff at people who buy hybrids because they think they are superior than others by being down with the "Green movement".

Neo-hippies and their trust funds, paid for by mommy and daddy who raped others to get enough to send junior to school and buy them a new H-SUV? Yeah...make me wanna puke with that whole "cooler than thou" attitude, plus think themselves showerproof. Almost as bad as their redneck counterpart, seemingly 99.9% of the population here is one or the other. I just tell them "Sorry, I don't speak Carhart"

The cheapest USED hybrid I could find in my area in my quick google search was 18k for an '03 honda hybrid vutcha-ma-callit. A 2000 civic DX gets 35+ mpg

So ASIDE from the insane cost of these slugs, my issue is not the cost...fucking idiots can spend themselves silly for all I care...but the incredible waste of materials that goes into BUILDING them. You can drive a few billion miles in your '97 Civic or Taurus or even 1980 Fairmont using way less resources that it takes to build a new Hybrid.

In fact, I think the whole "New Car" mentality has done more damage than simply driving...fix your old shit, don't let it get nasty in the first place...THAT is the real way to help.

[Maluco]

LOL!!! Let me start sharpening my maxillary canines...

inaction on global warming “will be catastrophic” and those who don't die “will be cannibals.”

Turner ridiculed the need for a big U.S. military, insisting “China just wants to sell us shoes. They're not building landing craft to attack the United States,” and “even with our $500 billion military budget, we can't win in Iraq. We're being beaten by insurgents who don't even have any tanks.”

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-b...ng-cannibalism

[eric (^__^)]

that episode was hilarious though

[LEANE30]

SouthPark is an inbred hick town and a fucking retarded show ^



who gives a flying fuck about Global Warming > i think it's fucked up that right now my local gas prices are right back at the peak price we saw late last summer, but by the end of this 2008 summer shit could be $5 or more per gallon. in JUST the past 5 years gas has gone up OVER 200%, what do you think the next 5 years are going to hold as china's industrialization is still on it's exponential upswinging WARMUP, they haven't even begun yet.

FUCK. i remember when $5 of gas into my old 318 was entertainment ALL DAY LONG and then some.

the perpetual consumption of a damn fossil fuel that is limited (relational to average lifespan and the rediculous amounts consumed by humanity - china cough cough) is, at this rate going to DRIVE ALL OF OUR CLASSIC AUTOMOBILE ENJOYMENT INTO EXTINCTION.

personally i doubt the american "green" conception of hybrid and electric motors shit has the soul and "feel" that is required for a pure enthusiast to really connect with a car, but i'm ignorant on that topic still lacking personal experience... you know the type of enthusiast car where you go out and start it up and just sit for a minute and listen to the symphony that is the combustion engine... turn off the music and roll the windows down as you carve down a twisty canyon road. - REAL.

basically the only real "green" option that i personally support would be H2-COMBUSTION (BMW is the cutting edge in that field and has been for decades) or possibly alternative diesel fuels.

basically, I SUPPORT THE WHOLE ANTI_GLOBAL_WARMING EFFORT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO ENSURE THAT WHEN I'M 60 I WILL STILL BE ABLE TO FIND GASOLINE TO PUT IN MY E30 FOR A SUNDAY CRUISE.

[rwh11385]