reply to post by boncho
Global warming is full of holes as a theory, we all know that. I think the fact is that there are better reasons to totally end all requirement for
fossil fuels than are offered by advocates of that increasingly dodgy looking premise.
Politically and financially, continued reliance on fossil fuel products for energy purposes is an unsustainable position for the human race, since
constant friction between suppliers and consumers, caused by unreasonable pricing, and its comensurate effects on the price of every product requiring
transportation of any kind, results in an unassailable rift between those in poverty, and the stability that every human being ought to be able to
expect from life in the 21st century.
On the geopolitical scale, one nation relying on another for critical resources is a fools game, because it makes the nation which owns the raw
material a target for greed, and fanatics, and makes nations reliant on the raw material weak, unable to fend of rising prices from suppliers.
But there are other reasons too, like the fact that spewing carbon out of engines and manufacturing processes can be harmful to human health, and
exposure to it increases risk of all manner of respiratory complaints, like asthma, and even more devastating sicknesses like cancers and what have
you. When you also consider that most fossil fuel sources are also flammable, they present quite a danger to human health from accident and sabotage.
The fact is, that the only reason we continue to use these fuels is because research into alternatives is either bought up by, or originates from,
companies which have a vested interest in continuing to sell crude oil, and its many derivatives, meaning that one cannot trust that any invention
which might equal the benifits of fossil fuels (like performance and ease of use) will not be immediately buried, or priced so outrageously high, that
fossil still looks like a better alternative.
We know that petroleum and like products have volatile vapour which explodes unless carefully contained away from ignition sources, so they are not
safe. We know that inhaling those vapours and the burnt particulate exhaust from engines which use them, can be lethal long term, and immediately
lethal short term (i.e. suicide by exhaust and so on), and we know that reliance on them weakens nations and strengthens greed in some nations.
If we want to move past this period of human history, better than when we came into it, the human race must learn better, cleaner, cheaper ways of
getting around, heating their homes, powering their gadgets, providing for their needs across the board, than we do today. None of that has anything
to do with the weather you are getting, or can expect to get next year at the same time.