Why the Global Warming crisis needs to be shaken not stirred.

First, if you want to look like an idiot, go into a bar and order a martini James Bond style. If the bartender knows anything, he/she should laugh at you and ask you to order something else. A martini is a SERIOUS drinker’s drink. It is mostly gin or vodka, and depending on how dry you want it, mixed with either a splash of vermouth or nothing at all. All alcohol, no fruit juice, no soda, no ice. Why don’t you ask for it to be shaken? Because vermouth is a wine and shaking it will bruise the wine and alter the taste of the drink. Asking for a martini shaken not stirred marks you as a person who doesn’t know jack about a martini. OK, that is a lot of information that you probably didn’t know about a drink that everyone has heard of but almost no one orders anymore.
To me Global Warming as it is known to most people is a lot like a martini. It is mostly politics mixed with a splash (if any) of science. Science has been rolled out as a main ingredient by men like Gore, Al Gore. Al Gore doesn’t know jack about science. We should be laughing at him and asking him to stick to the beer and shots menu. Instead, Al Gore has a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. The tragedy involved with allowing men like Al Gore to direct the environmentalist movement is that most people are genuinely concerned about the environment but don’t know that they are being swindled by politicians.
So what is going on? OK,
#1- There IS GLOBAL WARMING!! Happy now? Why is there global warming? Historically (geologic history, not human history), the planet has gone through heating and cooling cycles. All of the hows and whys are still not clear, even to scientists that have been studying it all of their lives. What I am going off of here is simple observation. The planet is coming out of a cooling cycle and is warming. In fact, if the historic sea level curve is correct, we have a lot more warming ahead of us. OK West, you agree there is global warming, don’t we need to do something??? You bet!! We need to (gradually) move cities back from the coasts and get prepared to farm in Canada. We need to put more effort into controlling tropical diseases which will spread when the tropics spread as the Earth warms. We can actually plan for global warming and sea level rise. Human caused or not, we have global warming. Now, if you want to do a 20 or 30 year study (preferably double-blind, we wouldn’t want it to become political now would we?) of the atmosphere to determine if there is a man made component to the problem, be my guest, but first things first, let us concentrate on problems at hand.
#2- Humanity causes damage to the environment! Wow!, not what you were expecting? I am fully aware of the damage that we do to the environment. For the most part I think that we are moving in the right direction. People are demanding green products and green policies. Companies are responding to that demand. What I think we need to improve on is population control and population density. This is what we are going to be fighting over a lot in the next few decades. The realization that we need to stop damaging the environment needs to be accompanied with an understanding of what contributes to that damage and a plan reduce that damage as much as is economically feasible. Why do I use a term like economically feasible? Because as an environmentalist; unless you are willing to kill yourself to stop yourself from damaging the environment; you must dedicate yourself to minimizing your impact. Remember, a politician asks you what you want, and economist will ask you what you want more. That is what it will come down to. What you are willing to change in your lifestyle and what technology we develop to help with environmental problems will determine what is economically feasible. Now, just in case you think that I am pointing the finger at Al Gore but am a hypocrite myself, I live in a second floor 1000 sq ft condominium and drive a compact car. In my opinion, if everyone else followed suit the amount we consume as a whole would be greatly diminished. The reasoning is that you can only pack a certain amount of crap into a 1000 sq ft condo. :)