In response to Dan Garsonnin’s letter regarding my questioning of the so-called global warming hyped by Dave Lloyd, I am happy to provide three very credible references for him to check out.
The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change, held March 8 to 10 in New York, at which an assembly of scientists, economists, legislators and policy activists listened to a wide array of presenters on the topic “Global Warming — Was It Ever A Crisis?” I cannot recall any mainstream media even having mentioned the event. The conference was devoted to answering questions overlooked by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and was sponsored by the Heartland Institute, which is a national non-profit research and education organization based in Chicago.
The Fraser Institute of Canada has published a number of research papers on the subject of global warming. Their conclusion is that the issue of global warming is the subject of two debates, one scientific (focusing on complex and often conflicting data) and one political (addressing proper government response to a hypothetical risk). For those insisting that the debate is settled, I would recommend reading the Fraser Institute’s “Independent Summary for Policymakers.” Written by a team of scientists, and reviewed by more than 50 scholars, it provides more evidence that popular notions about the causes of consequences of global warming are more fiction than fact.
Finally, I would recommend for further reading one of several books written by Bjorn Lomborg, adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School. Also known as “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” he is organizer of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre. In 2008 he was named as “one of the 50 people who could save the planet” by the UK Guardian. In his latest publication, he argues many of the elaborate and expensive actions considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions and may very well have little impact on the world’s temperature.
There are, of course, many more equally credible references available for those who are willing to take the time to educate themselves. Too often, debate of climate change has stifled reasonable dialogue, and killed meaningful dissent.
Steve Knobbe, St. Albert
