Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming

Mar

11th

Posted in Politics by Douglas Karr at 10:57 pm

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Al Gore is getting a ton of press (and even an Oscar) for his film, An Inconvenient Truth. It’s an important film that I would encourage everyone to watch.

There are two sides to every argument, though. If you’re a sensible person, I would absolutely recommend that you watch An Inconvenient Truth very closely and compare it to the competing science in this film. Get a comfortable seat, it’s over an hour long:

The Great Global Warming Swindle:

I’m a sensible person so the less pollutants in the air, I’m all for it. I have some friends with serious allergies and asthma and filth in the air really makes it tough for them. I’m not going to state my opinion on this subject, I’ll let you make your own opinion. Please put politics aside and watch both of the films. Comments welcome!

Why write about this on a Marketing blog? I think fear is a huge motivating factor for people to make decisions. Fear drives many a marketing campaign!

Douglas Karr

I wonder how much fuel was burned transporting the Soprano's final DVD from LA to Chicago for Gore to watch it on his flight from Chicago to Instanbul. This guy is incredible.

Marios Alexandrou

Doug,

You've got to give us more time to reply when over an hour's investment is needed! I'm still only 55 minutes in to the video.

I unfortunately can't say with certainty which side is right on this one. I simply don't know enough to see through inaccuracies, intentional or otherwise. However, I do think I'd be ready to accept that human-caused global warming is bunk, but that doesn't mean I don't want to protect wildlife and keep the world "clean".

I am glad that we have people making counter arguments though. They don't all get the same airplay, but at least they're available. Thanks for mentioning this one.

Douglas Karr

Marios,

I don't disagree. I guess the truth is that we don't know what we don't know about the climate. We do know; however, some of these gases aren't healthy for humans - so we should always strive to help one another and get them cleaned up!

Thanks!

Douglas Karr

I was really hoping for a couple more replies first... but here goes:

I suppose the question is whether or not a greener society actually is greener. One great example is electric cars. People think that electric cars are the answer because there are zero pollutants. However, it takes electricity to power the cars. Where does the electricity come from? It comes from Coal burning power plants. In the end, electric cars may cause more pollution and more concentrated pollution than a regular fossil-fuel automobile.

Every single kind of energy requires some manufacturing - sun, water, wind, etc. We think they are greener because we don't see the effects - but there are complications. Sun and wind power requires mass production and mining to find the necessary components, hydro power has massive ecosystem implications (as we've seen with salmon spawning).

As for Green House gases, I respect the science of the second film. I think it totally debunks the myth of CO2. Does that mean that I disagree with going 'green'? Absolutely not... but we need to make sure we're actually making a difference rather than paying billions of dollars into a myth.

It's ironic as well that Mr. Gore buys "green credits" (paying to pollute) as he rides his jet (as seen in the movie) from one speech to another. I also saw that he's under attack right now because his properties collectively use 20 times more electricity than the average home.

That said, I want to be clear that I'm not taking a side on this... I'm more of a Libertarian than anything else and I believe in consumption, wealth, and big business and, most of all, personal accountability. If I say that I want to 'go green', I want to make sure my investment is really making a difference. - not simply lining someone's pocket!

If you ask me, it's fear-based marketing run a muck. Billions of dollars poured down the drain with no actual affect on nature or humanity.

Nicholas

I would have still loved to hear your comment on this one Douglas..

Anyway, my opinion on this is pretty simple.

I don't see why we shouldn't move towards a greener society, and move at a faster rate when it comes to energy alternatives...

It's just erring on the safe side. If it's wrong, at least we have better technology... if global warming is right, I don't see any other planets laying around in which we can move to...