Climate change backers = religious zealots? (So says Jeb Bush)

I agree with Jeb;yeah, climate change is all about "emotional elites" who have
nothing better to do than to try to run our lives.
They are the "do as I say" group, and not as "I do".
There are thousands of scientist who disagree with the ALgore type scaremongers.
And yes, you Algore scaremongers, it is not settled science. It ain't over till the fat
lady sings.
Go, go ,go FOSSIL FUELS and SUVs

Global cooling. Get ready for it.

Jeb is right!! All the hysteria is simply an attempt to dismantle the American economy and send us back to the 1800's. Man did not cause it and man cannot "fix" it. Of course we all have a responsibility to be good stewards of the environment the God has given us. HE will decide when and how it falls apart! Not us! How arrogant of us to think we can do anything to change the climate.

If Jeb Bush can not be bothered to read, perhaps a couple of more Cat 5 Hurricanes are needed in Florida to make Jeb Bush see sense.

Please! Jeb Bush is clueless. And you are too if you think global warming is fiction.

Obviously Jeb Bush is just protecting the Bush family's oil profits. I thought that maybe there was at least one Bush who actualyy had the ability to care more about people than corporate prifits.

He seems like a spoiled child who does not want anybody to spoil his fun and can't tolerate any bad news while he's having fun. Perhaps it is time for him to grow up and do a little study about who is paying some scientific nay sayers to pretend the human contribution to the bad health of the biosphere doesn't amount to much.

Brian, thats an interesting theory...except for the fact that MAN created GOD in "his" image...(there's real arrogance for ya...) and was soley designed to give us an excuse for, and reason to not take responsibility for our own transgressions ( It was "God's will", and "God told me to do it"...) Did you have an imaginary friend as a child that you could blame things on?...
Your belief set ( like so many other unfortunate sacramental Kool-aid drinkers) would tend to be absolute proof that this insideously brilliant design is working like a charm...
To extrapolate further... because god and man are one and the same it would refute your argument that "man did not cause it and cannot fix it".
Man created God, the ultimate "permission slip" to codify and make sense of our
irrational fear of the unknown and hatred of all things different, and most of all to take responsibility for all the evil WE do in the world, including destroying the environment.....time to grow up, lose your imaginary friend, and take responsibility for your own actions.

First of all I hope you folks who are championing SUVs and believe that this is 'an attempt to dismantle the American economy' realize that importing fossil fuels shrinks our economy and jeopardizes our national security. I also hope you enjoy paying $4 a gallon. Every drop of gasoline that we use is imported from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela or some other god forsaken non-democratic, unstable crap hole. The higher these prices go the less disposable income people have. 60% of the U.S. economy is supported by consumer spending. Therefore, fossil fuels and their increasing prices are what is going to make this recession or painful than it needs to be. Viewing this solely as an environmental issue is a failure to see the bigger picture. The amount of fossil fuels is also fixed, so like it or not we need to develop alternatives and embrace the technological advances and new job creation that will develop as a result of tackling this problem. Advances is battery technology, fuel efficiency and eventually algae based bio-fuels will what propels the economy of the next 25 years and in the end safe our economic and national security.

I've seen the cases for both sides of the argument. Based on the science and just plain logic, it's probably in our best interest to work on ways to reduce our carbon emissions and impact on the environment. It's the respect for the earth that has been forgotten. From my old Boy Scout days, "Leave No Trace". Clean up after your mess. Take less from the world. Be on your way. It takes longer for the environment to recover from human carelessness. SIMPLE LOGIC! Jeb's an ignorant idiot and if you think he's right, better start educating yourself.

While global warming is not fiction its not man made either. Its part of a natural cycle. When farmsteads in Greenland are showing up that were working farms from around A.D. 1000 and abandoned as the area cooled in the mid 1300's you know the planet was this warm before and its nothing unusual. Earth is a living planet and it changes despite our desire to keep all the same.
Read here one of the many people saying sunspot activity is down and global cooling may be coming!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23583376-5013480,00.html
Real scientists doing real science are a far cry from the scaremongers trying to put people's attention anywhere other than what is going on in the world.
Tell me how can lightbulbs containing dangerous mercury be 'greener' than bulbs that have a 'carbon footprint'? Sure bringing hazardous materials into your home is 'green'. Sure the world is going to drown as the ice melts - funny that didn't happen last time or the time before that or the time before that...

Why are Jeb's comments controversial? Who believes that environmental policy should be based on emotion rather than science? Your reference to IPCC scientists is misleading. Many scientists agree that the earth is warming, but have legitimate questions about the cause, i.e. whether humans are to blame for all, some or none of it. There have been many warming and cooling cycles over the eons. Think about the last ice age for example. People who think that the Chinese and other up and coming populations are going to settle for a reduced standard of living because hybrid driving, Starbucks swilling Americans and Europeans are worried about the environment are living in a dreamworld.

Brian, your argument goes beyond stupidity to the realm of complete insanity. Please get some help.

Re the cat 5 hurricanes....according to scientists, for the past 40-50 years we have been in a hurricane lull. The last few active hurricane seasons are more the norm than an exception. However 40-50 years ago the population boom in the south had not yet begun.

Are these comments for real? Are there seriously people who think like this? I am afraid...

Jeb Bush is as bad as his big brother. They are pathetic. The reason he claims that global warming is not caused by man and the burning of fossil fuels is because he would never place any limitations on corporate america. He cares more about the mighty dollar than about the environment. It amazes me that the right wing is so blind and hateful, that they would ignore all the scientific evidence about global warming and believe instead that global warming is a liberal conspiracy. How close minded and ignorant.

"How arrogant of us to think we can do anything to change the climate."

How ignorant of you to think you can't. Or shouldn't. Just because you haven't read the facts or seen the photos of glaciers melting at warp speed, doesn't mean they don't exist.

You mean all those Cat 5 hurricanes that science predicted would occurr a few years ago and not a single one occurred? Those ones...?

Jim, you sir, are a moron.

It never stops amazing me that some people simply believe what some Fox News or Right Wing talk show host tells them. They are not scientists, they are paid to walk wth party line, the Republican party line. The Republicans can't go against the large corporate donars who keep them in power anymore than the Fox News and Right Wing talkers can afford to cross their biggest advertizers.
600 plus peer reviews have confirmed that humans are effecting global climate change. Our own government scientists, though obstructed admittedly by this administration, have come to the same conclusion. Their are NO peer reviews stating that we are not effecting climate change, NONE. The only "scientists" who have questioned this have been linked to Big Oil and the Energy Industry, so lack credibility. Is that easy enough to understand? Don't believe me, research it for yourself at independant sources. Start thinking for yourself and stop acting against your own self-interest.

@ 1,2 and 3

Blame the messenger for--perceived--hysteria. The science itself is sound. Today you've proven yourselves to be emotional armchair politicians and not trained scientists. Congrats.

The first three comments show me what I know to be true - the sad truth that our electorate is ignorant and happily so. We owe it to those who come after us to be good stewards, pay attention to science, stop being so greedy and materialistic and over-consume, and leave the planet better than we found it. Not a wasteland devoid of natural resources that we have crammed into our greedy, gas-guzzling, SUV-worshipping slobbering maws.

TC writes: "Please! Jeb Bush is clueless. And you are too if you think global warming is fiction."

The fact that media and political elites no longer refer to "global warming" but rather "climate change" show how much remains to be understood.

Never mind that our scant hundred years of recorded temperatures varies little in the face of the range experienced in millions of years of geological and anthropological data. (Remember when the Vikings were agricultural, or at the other extreme when most of North America was buried under glaciers?) In the face of one of the coldest winters in the Northern Hemisphere in recorded history (not just anecdotally, but statistically) and a decade of flat change in atmospheric temperatures, tactics have changed to present threats more vague than before with implications more disastrous that ever.

Never underestimate the financial incentives of the climate change crowd. How hard did ethanol folks lobby for their product under the guise of reducing carbon emissions? Now they're raking it in hand over fist, with added subsidy from the U.S. taxpayers, and have helped put worldwide grain markets into turmoil, a tragic situation for the common man but a profitable one for the companies, the politicians who exert their power as they see fit, and the scientists who are funded from the government teat.

Source:
Daily Tech, "Temperature Monitors Report Worldwide Global Cooling. 26 Feb 2008. http://www.dailytech.com/Temperature+Monitors+Report+Worldwide+Global+Cooling/article10866.htm

I'm a more moderate thinker on this topic. I think the "scaremongers" are a little too extreme but I also think the Jeb's of the world are in denial. Yes, there's a problem but I don't think it's the "comet hurtling towards Earth" doomsday situation the crusaders would like everyone to think. If everyone would just make small changes to care for the environment a bit more it would add up to big results. Go out and by an electric car and switch your home's heating system over to solar right this second? NIce idea, but not realistic for the everyman. How about turning the thermostat down a few degrees and taking public transportation more often? These are the things every person can do that will make a difference in the long-run I think.

Jim- Thousands of scientists say climate change is false? Where are you getting your information? Perhaps a few hundred at most. And who funds their research? The oil companies! Thousands of scientists believe it is real, and also that it will cause major conflict and have severe effects by 2050. I point you to the IPCC website in way of footnoting my claims. (http://www.ipcc.ch/)

Furthermore, even if you believe global warming is not a problem (in spite of all the evidence against you), why do you insist on sending your hard-earned dollars to Venezuela, Russia, and the Middle East? The "Al Gore Scaremongers" advocate renewable fuel technology to produce energy domestically with wind and solar. This will keep American dollars in America, create jobs here, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Let them scare people, it'll only help our economy.

I agree with Brianna, we can't all go out and buy an electric car. At least not yet. I need a new car but I won't buy another "gas only" car that will be worthless and unsellable in 2 years as plug in hybrids hit the market. With car sales down almost 20%, its more than just the economy, I think a lot of other people are are waiting too. If enough people stop buying cars until the plug ins are here they would get here faster. A Chevy Volt that can go 40 miles without using a drop of gas means not buying gas again to go to work or the store, only when I go on vacation or take a long trip. The Aptura at 350 mpg could also save me about $4000.00 a year on my gas bill. Both of these will help our economy and our planet but hurt Bush and his oil cronies. Why else would Bush be against requiring higher fuel standards and cleaner fuel. It will take our country a long time to recover from Bush but al least it will start next year. For all the nay sayers out there, even your brainless leader Bush has been overwhelmed by all of the evidence and has finally admitted that global warming is real.

Let's get this into perspective - we're talking about a maximum of 0.8 degC increase over the past 150 years, or less if you follow satellite data. There's absolutely nothing unusual about this, - it's just a repeat of normal climate cycles.The hottest year in recent times was 1998, and we've been cooling ever since. Why do we suddenly claim that humans are causing this?

Posted by lauren April 25 "Jim- Thousands of scientists say climate change is false? Where are you getting your information? Perhaps a few hundred at most." - Sorry but Jim is correct. There are literally thousands of scientists who claim that there is no evidence of anthropogenic climate change. many of them have resigned from IPCC due to their constant mis-representation of the facts. The conclusions from IPCC aren't written by the many scientists involved - it's about 50 beaurocrats that have the final word, and it doesn't necessarily represent the view of the science.

Jeb Bush is clearly wrong when he lapses into the fossil-fuel lobby speak quoted above.

Dennis writes "Never mind that our scant hundred years of recorded temperatures varies little in the face of the range experienced in millions of years of geological and anthropological data." (sic)

We actually have very good data on temperatures going back 600 years, and it is clear that we are well above those and continuing to trend upwards. It seems likely that the planet is as warm now as it was 430,000 years ago, the atmosphere more CO2-rich than in 2,000,000 years and the seas more acidic than in 55.8 million years. These do not portend well for humanity's future.

It is true that the world has been hotter, the atmosphere and seas more CO2-rich (and sometimes anoxic) than today, but in each of these cases these developments heralded on of the five events that paleontologists call "extinction events" in which biodiversity crashed before recovering in periods of time that have no meaning for the human species that in its contemporary incarnation has been about for perhaps 100,000 or so years. 55.8 million years the PETM (paleocence eocene thermal maximum) wiped out pretty much everything above above 35 kg and cut a swathe through the base of the food chain -- terrestrial and marine biota -- and that occurred with CO2 and temperature rising far more slowly than is the case now. Sea levels were up to 100 metres higher. How would that square with a world which by 2050 will have 9 billion people? It's simply ridiculous to talk blythely about previous hostile climatic cycles as if we humans would survive one now with nothing more than getting 'our hair mussed', as Dr Strangelove might have had it. What we have to think about is -- what will the 9 billion people on planet Earth in 2050 need to live as well as they possibly can -- and the short answer to that does not include declining terrestrial and marine biodiversity, increasingly acid seas, coastal inundation with seawater, desertification and loss of arable lands, conversions of rainforests to savannah lands, increasing costs of severe weather events, an atmosphere increasingly composed or particulates from fossil fuel burning, declining efficacy of marine and forest carbon sinks and uncontrollable increases in temperature.

If that is the world we hand our grandchildren, they will rightly curse us, because we knew and did little or nothing in a futile attempt to hang on to stuff we don't even need. The success of every generation is judged by whether the bequest it makes its exceeds that it was handed by its benefactors, and we may just be the first generation to hand hand over a world less fit for living than we were handed. We will have failed to meet our obligations through our own willful and reckless dereliction. Our grandchildren will rightly curse us when they come to understand how we have behaved if we fail to act robustly now.

Jeb Bush might not care. He won't be around in 2050 and even I will be 92. Yet our obligation is undiminished. We must act now with all the tools at our disposal to steer humanity away from a descent into Dante's Inferno and into a setting where that most complex and unique (as far as we can know) life support system -- Planet Earth -- can give us the things the humans of the next and subsequent generations need to live in dignity.

Fran

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Jeb Bush obviously has an agenda, as do Jim and James R apparently. It dumbfounds me how such people can repeat Exxon's talking points with such self-confidence and frequency. If instead they read the scientific literature, they would realize that all this doubt and uncertainty of which they constantly babble is actually quite minimal for ordinary scientific discourse, and the certainties about anthropogenic global warming are quite high.

his comments make him more of an idiot than his brother, who is and will be seen to be the "darth vader" of our environment globally in the years to come.
i was at the UN Climate Change conference in Bali, with 30,000 others and i was STAGGERED by the depth of scientific evidence, trends and innescapable conclusions. of course scientists are by nature lousy at marketing, unlike oil companies or politicians, of course oil dreiven polis are the masters ofd the unverse... the force of money is with them isnt it?
rithink about it. i run a glaobl comapny and now have started carvign it up to focus on the environment. sure i will make money- but how much did these guys m,ake destroying not only our ecology, but potentailly its ability to suport future lfe. even better they promoted it to the 'next generation' of carbon junkies, cleverly disguised as capitalism, China and India. thanks guys. i hope you live to see what you have created, and suffer the fate that awaits BILLIONS when scientists are forced to say " i told you so",if i could get even half the facts i saw into the publics hands ina waty they can understnad maybe, just maybet we havea shopt at saving our childrens future. but i bought a few hundred acres ona mountain in case...