JE Rebut

Really Mr. Edde, you do not believe Carbon Dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas?

We have an amendment to our Constitution, the first of the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing us freedom of speech. This is core to our national soul and one of the most important principles I defended as a US serviceman. We can proclaim almost anything and be protected by the law of the land.

However, the 1st amendment does not infer we must “respect” another’s opinion, especially when it flies in the face of fact, or when that opinion endangers a person(s) well-being.

CO2 was proven a greenhouse gas in 1861 by John Tyndall. It has never been disproven and today science students can even tell us exactly what portion of the infrared spectrum of energy the dipole bond between the oxygen and carbon atoms absorbs and releases heat. (In short, how the gas acts like an insulator and warms the earth. Humans, by burning fossil fuel, put more than 37,000 metric tons of CO2 into the air each year.)

Is it possible the thousands of member scientists of our National Academies of Science, our American Association for the Advancement of Science, our American Geo-physical Union, and our American Meteorological Society are all clueless?  

There are many who deny climate change who choose to listen to Joe Bastardi.  Bastardi is a meteorologist.  He is not a climate scientist and he does not carry much of a science portfolio. He has, though, been quite vocal on Fox News.

Before I address Mr. Bastardi’s claims, let me introduce you to the Union of Concerned Scientists. (UCS). The UCS was formed by the faculty and students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is arguably the finest science institution of learning in the world. Its mission is to defend truth and defend truthtellers. That is science and scientists.  See www.UCSUSA.org.

The UCS has criticized cable news across the board for being science illiterate. The worst offender, by far when it comes to science accuracy, is Fox News. At Fox, Mr. Bastardi is given free rein to spout what Mr. Edde refers to as an “alternative point of view”.

Mr. Bastardi is also a senior advisor to an organization that, according our American Association for the Advancement of Science, contributes to, “an environment that inhibits the free exchange of scientific findings and ideas.”

The UCS describes the actions of this organization as tantamount to the harassment of climate scientists.

The common tactics of these organizations is to file repeated time-consuming freedom of information requests, sue, and attempt to discredit and intimidate climate scientists. 

Additionally, this organization receives funds through dark money fossil fuel funded channels. For more details see: www.desmog.com/bastardi.

Mr. Edde, feel free to believe a fake expert, who only has credibility on the world’s most scientifically inept cable news channel and who advises, (probably for a fee) a dark money funded science harassment organization because free speech and opinions are protected by the bill of rights. However, the science does not support those conclusions.

Continuing, the argument that the earth in the distant past, was thick with CO2 before man walked the earth is correct. Conveniently omitted by Mr. Edde is the fact the earth, then, was a lot hotter and the oceans were much higher.  These details should not be omitted because if we continue to warm, large areas of this planet will be uninhabitable. 

Additionally, the idea we will be at an optimum level of carbon dioxide by going higher is disputed by all leading science organizations.  When someone takes the word “optimum” and makes unsubstantiated and unsupportable inferences without evidence, I question their objectivity.  The 3 “optimums” cited by Mr. Edde, were at CO2 levels much LOWER than we have now. In other words, and to sum up the studies of climate scientists, we are and will continue to exceed optimum temperatures for human civilization.  See my last column.

The attempt to confuse us by giving a few true statements whose time frames are incongruous with the rest, and then to come to a false conclusion, is what is called a logical fallacy with elements of the famous red herring and just plain misrepresentation. *  

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