Activist Handbook 2000: Global Warming

Global Warming

Why CSE Cares

The Issue:

In 1997, the Clinton-Gore administration signed the Kyoto Protocol, also known as the UN Global Warming Treaty. The internationally-enforceable treaty is intended to stop what some believe is an unnatural warming of the planet caused by human use of fossil fuels. Since the Senate has refused to ratify the treaty, there have been numerous proposals for domestic greenhouse gas reduction schemes and the administration has attempted to implement the treaty through the back door.

The Problem:

There is no solid scientific evidence that the use of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases has any effect on out climate. The Kyoto Protocol and other domestic greenhouse gas reduction schemes will have no effect on greenhouse gas emissions, because they exempt the developing world, and will cripple the U.S. economy.

Facts:

· There is no solid scientific evidence that the planet is heating up unnaturally. Temperature measurements on Earth have measured a small increase, about half a degree over the last 100 years. But surface measurements do not take temperatures across the entire globe, do not take measurements in the same way, and do not use the same equipment. They are also vulnerable to the urban “heat island” effect, which causes readings to be higher than normal.

· The main greenhouse gas that concerns global warming alarmists is carbon dioxide. Humans produce only about 5% of the carbon that enters the atmosphere each year. The rest comes from natural sources. Climate science also tells us that carbon levels in the atmosphere have varied greatly in the past, without human influence.

· The Kyoto Protocol would do nothing to stop emissions of greenhouse gases because it exempts the developing world, which will account for the majority of greenhouse emissions in the near future. However, the Department of Energy estimates the UN Kyoto treaty could cost the U.S. economy close to $400 billion annually, costing the average family $2,700 per year.

The Solution:

Without any clear scientific understanding of what our role, if any, may be in affecting our climate, it makes little sense to pursue policies that will only hurt our economy and take away our freedom. Rather than giving into the demands of those who support greenhouse gas reduction policies like the Kyoto Protocol, we must continue pursuing scientific discovery to get the answers we need about our climate.

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