Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

Here is one of the foot draggers:

"There's no agreement on what it is that constitutes a dangerous climate change," said Marburger, adding that the U.S. government spends $2 billion a year on researching this and other climate change questions. "We know things like this are possible, but we don't have enough information to quantify the level of risk."

It is clear that the Bush administration has been trying to silence the scientists and reports coming out of government agencies. James E. Hansen, one of the top government climatologists, is only one example.

We have lived through decades of corporate funding of scientists and government to say "the data is not in" or "the data is faulty." Now that there is no longer any question that the data was right, and that global warming is happening faster than anyone expected, they are trying to shift the argument to "it is not clear when the tipping point will be," or "the data is not yet clear."

Meanwhile, as past history indicates, those who would prefer to err on the side of caution are called "alarmists," or "left wing liberals" or worse.

The Bush plan of "voluntary compliance" on emissions is just plain stupid. The whole argument over "when" - now that we have gotten past "if" - is just another delaying tactic.

Imagine this scenario. You are driving a car 100 miles an hour towards a cliff that is crumbling. At any moment an undetermined chunk of that cliff is going to break off. It could be a six foot section, or it could be a 600 foot section. You are now at 700 feet from the cliff face. You have known this was in front of you for the last 50 miles. When would you hit the breaks? Immediately? Wait until you are at 300 feet? Hit the accelerator and go for the long jump?

The reality is, for most of us, that knowing that the road we were on was crumbling in front of us and that there was no place to go, we would have turned off at least ten miles back. A few "thrill seekers" would push it to the limit.

Unfortunately, the consequences of the crumbling cliff are miniscule in comparison to the effects of global warming. As I write this, people are dying in Russia, the Ukraine, and elsewhere, from a "cold snap" that is refusing to break. Oregon, where I live, is back in what seems an endless train of storms rolling in off of the Pacific. Meanwhile, (part of the Russian freeze). Then North Carolina got hit with 200 mph winds. For those interested in following the bizarre weather reports, check out Jesse Ferrell's AcuWeather Blog)

This is not a time to change the debate to when will we hit the cliff. We already are having signs that we are past the tipping point. The time to act is now. If we have more time, then that is great.