Better yet, the plankton goes wild...
Making the krill fatter and more plentiful...
Making healthier, happier, and more fecund whales.
And (drumroll)...
"SUVs cause Cetacean Population Explosion!"
Yeah, as soon as I hit the POST button I realized that I should have used the carbon dioxide from the burning match instead.
I just think it's counterproductive -- as an element of public debate strategy -- to contend that humans have zero role in producing CO2 emissions, which is ludicrous, or that CO2 does not play a role in maintaining the temperature of the Earth. In particular I think it's counterproductive to call statements like that "elements of the conservative agenda." To me it starts to sound like making the teaching of creationism part of the party platform. "You guys say it's science, but it sure sounds like religion."
In one sense you're right that it's safe to say that humans don't cause global warming because no one will ever be able to prove otherwise, but there is an element of Clinton's old "is-is" strategy there, and I don't think it's a very smart way to head into a debate about whether we should do drastic stuff like the Kyoto Protocols.
Call me open minded, but I don't see what's wrong with saying that human activities are one of a thousand factors affecting the climate, that no one knows how big a factor it is, and that it doesn't make sense to turn the economy upside-down until we know a lot more than we know now. For all we know, what's happening now is just normal fluctuation. It might be the Sun. It might be anything.
My observation, and you can call this religious if you like, is that the Earth is extremely well-designed. Blow a hole in the ozone layer, and the resulting UV coming through the hole knocks the oxygen molecules around... forming more ozone. Spew carbon dioxide into the air, and the plants will go wild... taking it back out. This old Earth has cured itself of asteroid hits that killed practically every living thing on it. I seriously doubt we're going to wreck the joint with some SUV's.
Better yet, the plankton goes wild...
Making the krill fatter and more plentiful...
Making healthier, happier, and more fecund whales.
And (drumroll)...
"SUVs cause Cetacean Population Explosion!"
I listened to too much Firesign Theater in my youth... I've been wanting to do that all afternoon.