Contrary to what some say, the dialog about global warming is not over.
Tony Magliano, in “Global warming: We’d better take it seriously”, wants us all to be worried. If one is to take it seriously, maybe one needs a bit more real evidence that mankind is causing it. While those who offer conflicting evidence are bullied out of the public dialog, I have not seen convincing evidence that our presence on the earth is raising the temperature “significantly”. If Mr. Magliano has such evidence, could he share the reference?
Next, if Mr. Magliano wants us to be serious, he should offer a complete plan. There is an epidemic in this country of not examining the full impact of ‘feel-good’ actions.
Has Mr. Magliano considered this other aspect of any proposed plan:
If Americans force developing countries to use ‘clean’ energy – their ability to compete in the global market drops – and the poorest of the poor of those countries will likely lose their jobs, and might not be able to feed themselves and their children. As Christians, readers of the R.I. Catholic are called to consider the needs of the poor.
Lastly, solar, wind and geothermal sources of energy are not ‘abundant’. In many areas one or all of these work poorly. The investment in transition from whatever exists now, to the ‘miracle’ technologies will be large. And there is one really big wind turbine in Rhode Island that sits idle – despite all the optimism. We need to think these things all the way through – and we need to have a dialog that is open to all aspects and impact of our grand ideas.
Brian Gardner
Jamestown
