A few comments...
"There's nothing wrong with denial when you're denying a falicy."
You're in disagreement with the EPA, the EU, the UN, British Petroleum, Chevron (even Exxon has recently agreed that there's an issue here though they held out for quite some time)... and Al Gore ;-)
Al Gore might be putting fourth his beliefs - there's nothing new in what he's saying though, lots of good books on the topic say all the same stuff.
"On the one hand, we're being told that human activity is the cause of all this climate change. "
Evidence seems to point in that direction. CO2 levels are the highest they've been in almost a million years and it's a recent change which has happened since the industrial revolution.
"On the other hand, we're told that we're powerless to correct the problem."
Some might be saying that - most are saying there will be climate change but the cost of stopping the problem is not that great. The technology exists and the cost need not be that high. In the short term I can see it being rough on the world economy, in the not too long term it could be profitable. The recent 'stern' report suggests that the cost is not so high and we're very much empowered to correct the problem.
"NASA reports measurable global warming on both Venus and Mars over the past couple decades."
I don't see how that has anything to do with our changing the composition of our own atmosphere.
"I wonder how Americans got all those SUVs and pollution pumping factories to those planets without anyone knowing about it? Al Gore has been making the rounds with his 'Earth in the Balance' schtick for nearly 30 years."
Perhaps it's a matter of opinion. Nobodies right all the time - but in my mind there is little doubt that in the last 100 years we have taken a big toll on the earth, a great deal of damage has been and continues to be done. Humans are pretty short term thinkers - governments are really short term thinkers (usually our govt is worried mostly about the next election). We're doing long term damage and the cost of cleaning up will be a lot greater than the cost of good habits.
"He likes to point out that if "something isn't done" in 30 years we're in for a catastrophe. Twenty years ago, I can remember we were all being told that the earth's oceans were dying and if we didn't do something IMMEDIATELY then in 10 years we were all doomed."
Maybe he was wrong when he said 'immediately' and '10 years'. I don't know if you've read the news lately about the worlds fisheries - perhaps extreme, they're calling for 90% depletion of wild seafood within the next 45 years if we continue business as usual. Since 1953, according to recent reports, 29% of fish and seafood species has collapsed (their average annual catch has declined by at least 90%). That's quite serious and maybe folks should've been paying more attention 20 years ago. About 30% of the worlds coral reefs are dead, and this has happened mostly in the last 20 years. So - maybe his prediction of 10 years was off the mark (and you know - I don't think he said we were doomed, I think he predicted serious problems though, which - in my opinion have come to pass and hopefully things wont get worse.)
"The entire global warming issue is a perfect example of the vanity of humanity. The myopic view that whatever happens in my lifetime is the most critical, important, significant event in the history of the world."
You might be right - but you must admit this is a very unique period in the history of the world. Approaching 7,000,000,000 in human population (it was about 2 billion in 1927) and technology moving foward at a pace like never before. Along with technology comes some solutions - but also incredible use of energy unlike ever before.
"The constant hew and cry from people who want to make American the villain for all that is bad comes from some sort of misplaced guilt complex. We are constantly given the "American has 5% of the population but consumes 25% of the world's resources" but we're not told that American produces 43% of the world's corn, 44% of the world's soybeans, 11% of the world's wheat. The numbers for peanuts, peas, sugar beats, oats, apples, potatoes, beans, and sunflowers are similar. If the world's other food producers could be as efficient as the US farmer in terms of food produced per unit of energy used, world agricultural energy usage would plummet."
I agree with some of what you have to say there. Our government has been ignoring the issue though. We're fortunate in the US to occupy some of the worlds most productive lands. In some way - the world benifits from this. In other ways I think we are villians in our habits and lifestyles. This is not a black and white issue - there are lots of gray areas. It is in my mind - a very serious issue though and 'whos to blame' is not the issue - solving the problem should be on everyones mind.
"I'm not saying there's no waste or room for improvement."
That's good, because there is tons of waste and a great deal of room for improvement. I think we're in a great deal of trouble if we don't improve things a great deal soon.
" I'm a big supporter of alternative energy and anything that will reduce or eliminate the US reliance on unstable, dictatorial, lunatics for our energy. "
Me too. I didn't get into this renewable energy because I'm a 'tree hugger' or any of that - I do it because it's fun, I'm a 'gear head' and it's a necessary evil if I want electricity where I have chosen to live.
" I just don't buy into the bumper sticker finger pointing that wants to blame the greatest country this planet has ever seen for everything that isn't right."
No - I don't either, but I do think Americans have some of the sloppiest habits out there and the cost to future generations and other countries for our habits will be high. I also think that 'the greatest country this planet has ever seen' should be on the cutting edge of things and setting a good example. At this point in time we're not.
