Socialism is indeed growing in popularity now. I think it is more a reaction to George W Bush than anything else. I don’t think that socialism is going to grow to the extent that our government will eventually be socialist like in France, Germany, Canada, and others. However, I actually wouldn’t mind a few socialists in the House and the Senate. The beauty of our system is that you and I and others who disagree with both of us can all brainstorm and hopefully come up with ideas somewhere in the middle that are going to benefit all. I feel like the more opinions the better. But with that opinion comes responsiblity. We must all listen to each other and pull together the best of what we all say.

The same is true for the Global Warming Debate. Some countries, while they may have the technology to industrialize, may not be able yet to efficiently dispose of the waste they generate or the gasses they emit. They may not even be trying. The US, as the world’s only superpower, must lead the way in this endeavor. I don’t have the stats on the Kyoto Protocol, but I do agree that we need not be punished for being the most powerful nation in the world. However, it is our responsibility to share (maybe for a fee) technology that will help other industrialized nations clean up their environments. Aren’t there environmental consulting firms out there doing just that? If not, there should be.

The companies that trade in carbon credits are somewhat amazing and companies that are willing to buy forgiveness of their carbon output by simply buying carbon credits.

The UN and many “globalization” people of power in the world want to punish the United States for being rich and powerful. One way they are doing it is through the global warming debate. The Kyoto Protocol was all politics, and would have hurt the United States while exempting countries like India from doing all the polluting they wanted (it punished the US).

The environmental activits extreme wing of the democratic party are very political. Check out environmental terrorism in the northwest.

Wold taxes have been proposed at the UN to punish carbon output and American leaders like Al Gore would like to see extreme taxes on gasoline to lower consumption. Al Gore wanted a BTU tax on energy during the 1990s.

My kids didn’t fall for the brainwashing of Al Gore’s movie as they knew the truth about the film, but politics, hollywood, and well intentioned people have moved the global warming debate into hysteria. We may all die from climate change, but there are people that have brought it into the political arena including taxes.

So, the soap box goes on, and one fact remains true. It is a good thing to take care of the planet. The US is much cleaner than in the 1940s for example. The establishment of the EPA and the clean water act all were great for Americans. Republicans like clean water too! We just have to be careful that the socialist of our time dont take the global warming issue and turn it into a political and distribution of wealth issue.

So much of the world believes the US is bad and needs to be punished for its wealth. many also believe that it is not fair for the US to consume much of the worlds engergy, and our wealth should be spread out to those less fortunate. That mentallity is very strong. It is global socialism. So, no, I don’t expect you to see a candidate running for president this time to use global warming as a cornerstone of a platform, but this movement is major world wide, and many want to use that platform.

Going Green is not a bad thing, but there is a reason that of the two political parties in the US only one views it as Al Gore does, it is the Democratic far left wing. The mainstream candidates like Hillary Clinton does indeed have to pay attention to them to get elected. Believe it or not, I actually think Hillary is moderate on many issues, she is a true patriot. Yet, the socialism mode in the country is really astounding, and global warming is a tool or mechanism to ride. Hillary has a strong socialism streak in her, and that causes me concern.

We have major oil reserves in this country and we can’t get to them because of enviornmentalist. Who likes the gas prices now, no one. But there is oil from our own natural resources. it is political suicide to not use ones own resources. Yet, the politics of the environmentalist cause us to be more and more dependent on foreign oil.

Thus, its very clear to me that politics and the global warming debate go hand in hand.

The wold is probably in a cooling period since 1998. Thus, we just don’t need major political decisions and spending tax dollars to solve a problem that in my mind can only be done by God. …..and who is to say that we are more powerful than God when it comes to this planet. As Bryan said, lets be good stewards. Republicans/Conservatives like clean water too for ourselves and our kids.

I am perfectly happy with everyone practicing good stewardship as Bryan calls it, but in the end, I don’t think it will stop Global Climate Change either. As I said before, I’m not really sure how much of it is man made and how much we can do to slow it down. However, like Bryan says, why would we not all want to live in a more beautiful place. Recycle as much as possible so we don’t have landfills 20 miles away from our playgrounds.

I too would rather focus on other issues in the election. I’m not really sure that politics was even mentioned anywhere in this post. But, as long as we’re talking about the issue of global climate change…

I think everyone needs to mind their own business and do the best job of their lives where they are.

Forward progress as we develope as a society will produce good and bad.
We are so fortunate to have a form of government that allows us to argue and process and develop strategies and solutions free of oppression. I don’t consider Global Climate Change as an issue that needs alot of discussion as it relates to this election. All of us need to be sensitive to our environments. Common sense dictates this. Unfortunately, there are those that enjoy making an issue where there really isn’t one.

I think protecting our society and our form of life as we know it against those that would destroy us is a greater concern than wether one millimeter of anything at the North or South Poles thaw.

In my opinion, all scientific data must be taken with a grain of salt and scrutinized to ensure accepted methods, techniques, and protocols were used in the design and execution of the experiments. I am willing to assume that all of that has occurred in the analysis of all of this weather data. All that to say that both sides have valid points. We have had both unusually cold and unusually hot weather within the span of the past 12 months.

I think Global Climate Change is a topic that both sides will use to vilify each other for a long time to come. My personal opinion is as you say, the planet is in fact warming up as it has done before. However, I believe Global Climate Change is definitely a cause for concern. I believe the only thing up for debate is how much of the problem is man-made and how much can we really do to slow it down.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/anomalies/anomalies.html

Basically, this is the information with all the disclaimers regarding the measurement of world temperature. A game of “gotcha” really doesn’t work too well in the global warming debate. There are enough holes to drive an asteroid through the methodology regarding how these temperatures are derived.
Scientist according to their own report can’t measure all over the globe with instruments as every part of the world is not accessible, easily. So, they use formulas. That is all well and good until one realizes that errors are made, by their own admission. Also, we have only measured temperature for the last 125 years or so in many places of the world. The Earth is just a little older than 125 years.
The earth’s climate is in flux (as it always has been) but in my opinion global warming has become a Liberal political issue all over the world. The study of written history indicates the world has been much warmer than today, and it has been colder. Either way, those changes happened before we ever thought about the industrial revolution. The common sense factor regarding global warming just does not work for me.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/aug/aug07.html