Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Just a suggestion...

Though cathartic blogging may be, is it constructive to have a post like this public?

I hear your frustration... and I get it. Totally, totally get it.

But I'm concerned about this post having negative ramifications and being counter-productive to the goals you're trying to achieve.

Just me...

Can I have an amen?

Hahahahhahaha.

Yeah, of all the issues to escalate to such dogmatic wars, it's a funny one.

My side on all this is that cheap solar panels are going to wipe out the coal industry in less than ten years, and cheap batteries are going to wipe out gasoline and diesel in about the same window. We'll be left with legacy vehicles for maybe 20 years after that, but over-all human CO2 emissions are going to plummet to the point where we'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Can expand that if anybody is interested.

Here, here!

Acerbic. That sums you up.

Had a good chuckle after reading this post.

Geez,and I thought I'm supposed to be the most angry one on this earthly realm.I'd be pissed too if people sent me a whole load of crappy arguments to my website.

Anyways,appreciate your work.Much better than all that bull I've read in the bookstores near where I'm staying.

Though I'm a bit of a skeptic about SysAdmin types running things.Must be the influence of von Clausewitz.

John Quincy Adams (I'd like to see a series about him) once said something to the effect that our political system tends to fight over "proxy" issues, instead of the real underlying problems that divide us. In his day, people argued about stuff like tariffs or internal improvements, because arguing about the real underlying division - slavery - was too hard. I see global warming as something similar. The real issue that divides us is globalization and how we deal with it. The extremists on global warming are sort proxies for two extreme views, both of which are anti-globalization at heart, but from opposite directions. The extreme "Left" wants to shut down global capitalism altogether, so they push an extreme position on global warming, the effect of which will be to reverse globalization. The extreme "Right" fears that globalization will undermine national authority by requiring the US to surrender some of its sovereignty in order to deal with trans-national global problems. So they can't acknowledge that global warming even exists.

Mr. Barnett,
Fortunately, there is a position that falls imbetween the morons on either side of this debate. Namely: Climate Change is occurring (the term "global warming" is a misnomer). At issue is what is causing the climate change; to what do we attribute the changes? The nut cases on the left tell us it is people, the nut cases on the right dismiss the entire notion. Those that are intellectually honest look at the data, which points to increased solar activity, which is a natural cyclical phenomenon. There may be "some" attribution to human beings, but the notion of "how much" will never be proven (.5% attribution ?, 1%?).

Where the rubber hits the road is: assume Climate Change is real, based on this natural cyclical phenomenon, and get away from blaming people and consumption, and attempting to spend trillions of dollars fixing what CAN'T be fixed (Kyoto Protocol won't stop solar radiation). Let's focus our energy, limited resources and dollars on things that have a high benefit/cost ratio. What REAL things can we do to address things that are likely to occur: coastal areas could be damaged, so how should the insurance industry plan for this? some areas of the globe will be less productive for farming, and new areas will become more productive for farming, so how do we adjust production most effectively? some areas of the world may become "malaria zones", due to increased wetlands, so how do we plan for it? etc. etc. etc.

There will always be a cadre of culture warriors (lef and right) for whom global warming is a wonderfully opportunistic battleground - its completely worthy of ignoring.

The Internet is a wonder. Never in history have people been able to communicate with each other in such numbers. Of course the screamers and the loonies and the crooks have become part of this wonderful mess. I just deleted my "spam" box. It appears that I have won the Irish Sweepstakes 3 times this month.

You are right; it should be science, not religion. I did a piece maybe a year ago saying Gore knew nothing about China and you would have thought I had insulted the Pope or something. It's all very weird.

It's the first time I read this kind of strong wordings. I only want to say that I agree with you completely. It is very very sad that there exists a portion of the human beings that simply refuse to look at facts and data. I don't pretend to understand why they are what they are, because I really don't. Anyway, do calm down, and take comfort in the fact that there are many many people who agree with you. It's not worth it to have your blood pressure elevated because of those brook-no-data-nor-facts dumb asses.

Dr. Barnett, you may find this helpful ....

God,

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Amen