If our civilization existed during the era of Pangaea, I can hear Obama saying “we need to heal the continent and prevent its drifting apart. Continental drift is a national security issue.” Does this sound like the climate change issue?
Why would anyone deny climate change? The climate of the Earth began a cycle of change as soon as an atmosphere formed and the Earth started its rotation. So, climate change—let me count the ways. But, let’s not. We all should know that man is not the single most contributors to planetary climate change. After all, we banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in the 70’s, you know, things like Freon and propellants in hairspray, all in an effort to close the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. This is a time when we are being warned about an impending ice age. When the truth about that came, we found out that there has always been a hole in the ozone at that location and it changes shape. We also find out that one volcano eruption spews more CFC’s into the atmosphere than all of mankind in the history of our existence. But, we ban CFC’s, when we should be putting efforts into controlling volcano outputs (LOL). Banning CFC’s make us feel good and it’s easier than controlling volcanoes and —they are both ridiculous.
The evidence of an impending ice age faded and gave way to the idle hands of AlGore in the form of a documentary called an “Inconvenient Truth”. Instead of an ice age, we are according to the documentary, faced with global warming and it’s ALL our (mankind) fault. The only truth that is inconvenient is that 97% of the documentary has been debunked. Since neither model of global cooling or warming can be substantiated as valid models, the new marketing term is now “climate change”. This is the safe alternative term in case the weather happens to change. Enough of the short history.
One has to wonder why it’s still a polarizing issue. The real amazing part is that there are people consistently gullible and truly believe that we are causing damage on a planetary scale. You know you have heard it several times; when you look for truth, just follow the money. In this case, money flows to alternative energy companies in the form of government subsidies and goes bankrupt. The main culprit would be Solyndra, which was a sweet deal. Solyndra gets millions in subsidies, tax credits, and loan guarantees then gets tax benefits from millions in operating losses. The speculation is that these failed alternative energy companies became shell companies for political campaign financing. In other words, the taxpayer paid for political campaigns. Now, I know that oil & gas companies receive subsidies and loans also, but these are established industries not speculative. Economically, the free market has determined that fossil fuels are the most efficient. If alternative or green energy became competitive we would see a massive shift in preference. I would prefer no government loans or subsidies or even bailouts. Still, you can hear the cry “heal the planet”.
Obama has declared the science behind climate change is settled. Well, that might be enough for some, but with the acknowledged and documented record of statements from our president on previous subject matters, we see ignorance, incompetence, or manipulation. 
There is certainty that climate change falls into one of those categories. When you have scientists that depend on government grants for their livelihood, the results of the research can become transparent well before they are presented. You can think of it as “Make the facts fit my narrative, if you want to continue receiving grant money.”
Now we have to do our fair share. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do I have to buy carbon credits to ease my conscience for turning on the ignition in my car? I still don’t understand why this issue has taken hold. The EPA is one of the bureaucracies in competition to be the leader of the 4th branch of government since Nixon created it. I acknowledge that without the EPA, we may have environments similar to India and China does today. The United States has done an exemplary job of protecting our human habitat. Yet, we are now led to believe that when the weather changes, it’s the Americans fault.
Ever wonder what goes into one of those big windmills you see when driving through the South Plains? Or, what material makes a solar panel work? It’s called “rare earth elements”. You can find some in Canada but 80% – 90% of all “rare earth elements” are found in China. Here is the difficult part- processing these “rare earth elements” decimates an environment- air, land, and water. India is using coal without the scrubbing technology we employ. In fact, of the top 20 polluted cities, India shows up in 13 of them. We only know this because of the expensive sensors located in such places. We don’t know about other emerging cities such as Lagos, Nigeria.
Don’t get me wrong, I would like to see fossil fuels take an exit of necessity. The so called “green energy’ is the future. But, having the government shove it down our throats (like healthcare) is not how Americans like to do things. For this new clean energy technology to take hold it has to be viable and economical. Fossil fuels have already set the baseline for cost and efficiency- green just isn’t there yet.
Attacking environmental concerns with a false narrative like climate change only serves to create a mountain of money, nothing more. When this is realized, it will be too late and government gains more power and control over our lives. If there were genuine concerns over the environment, this would be met with how to maintain clean air and clean water. But that is too passé, and just isn’t exciting. We need a global cause to be a part of that is larger than our self, makes us feel good, and does absolutely nothing.
Nonovelist 