Global Warming

[badsede]

OK, what is American Papist's deal with global warming? It seems like he links to every little article out there that is contradictory to or dismissive of claims of the existence of global warming and its consequences or that it is human-caused. This is the kind of thing that really bugs me, when Catholics integrate their political ideologies

Comments

[yechezkiel]

That industry isn't the primary path for studying climatology--usually people in the environmental industries assume the problem, they don't study it (I'm marrying someone who works in that industry and a lot of my fellow graduates are in sister industries). Especially in the paleoclimatology community, but also in the modern, there are serious doubts about whether or not we are in a long-term warming trend. The whole "scientific agreement" jive that is rammed in heads by media all day long is created by the unanimous agreement of governmental environmental agency studies... studies which, surprisingly, justify the existence of the bureaucracies that initiate them.

While I was rude, my patience has been worn thin fighting what I believe is an uphill battle against monolithic ignorance of the science on this topic. There are tons of good reasons to improve fuel economy, reduce fossil fuel dependence, etc. without getting into global warming which, often as not, is a way of introducing more central planning. The real, tangible environmental improvements we can make can be made for reasons that are more certain than climate change.

[badsede]

My industry was not a primary path for the study, but it brought us into continual contact with those who did and with their work. I remember when there was a lot more doubt about the existence of a global warming trend, I remember when the tenor among those guys changed, when the outright deniers started being quiet and only the doubters were left.

But denial and doubt are not the same thing. There are credible scientists who *doubt* that we are in a long-term warming trend, but that is something quite different from actively denying it. But even still, the science was really only an incidental aspect of my post. Doubt is what my post is all about; doubt and ideological consistancy in acting in the face of doubt.

[yechezkiel]

As for that issue, I can't process it... I just had my last day at the pharmacy yesterday, and the long-term reality of the moral ambiguity of Plan-B is still there. It only came up when I was there a handful of times, but it was always present, especially once the non-prescription packaging was released.

[yechezkiel]

"moral ambiguity of dealing with Plan B", even