Bill White – 11/22/04


This page was last updated on November 22, 2004.


Global warming is all too real; Bill White; Beaver County Times; November 22, 2004.

Mr. White wrote five anti-Bush letters from August through October 2004.  Now he’s onto global warming, though Mr. White still manages to get in a shot at President Bush.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.


“Science tells us the Earth is warming at a rate parallel to the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests.”

[RWC] Mr. White doesn’t want us to remember that the same people who are talking about global warming today are the same people who 30 years ago were talking about global cooling!1  If the Industrial Age is responsible for global warming, what caused previous cooling/warming cycles?  For example, what caused the “Little Ice Age” in Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries?

“Carbon dioxide is being produced at a faster pace than plants and the oceans can absorb, creating an environment of global warming, and greenhouse gases.

“This reporting does not have an agenda; it has no political wish.  Scientists are in agreement on this subject.”

[RWC] Mr. White doesn’t mention that the Earth has gone through cooling and warming periods since its creation.  He also doesn’t mention that at various times before the Industrial Age, atmospheric CO2 levels were higher than they are now.  Mr. White wants us to believe the science in this area is cut and dried, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“Prediction of the future is not if, but how soon our planet will change.  Ice is melting at an unparalleled rate throughout the world.  More water released into the ocean equates to a rising sea level, salt water infiltration, altered climates, and uncertain food production, to name a few.  The people of Alaska can verify this statement today.”

[RWC] Where did Mr. White learn his science?  If melting polar ice will cause the sea level to rise, why doesn’t your glass overflow as the ice cubes melt?  Any increase in ocean levels must come from ice on land.  FYI, don’t expect help from Antarctic ice.  During this period of “unparalleled” global warming, Antarctica is actually getting colder and its ice pack is growing.  I suspect Mr. White got his science from “The Day After Tomorrow.”

“Being human, we don’t want to deal with global warming.  Let someone else worry about it.  We abhor change, when change is exactly what is called for.

“The numbers just do not add up, as we talk of a less habitable land and an ever-increasing population.  What about the future of our children, and their children?  Global warming will indeed affect their way of life in many ways.

“President Bush, scientists in servitude to the energy conglomerates and those of the right-wing Limbaugh/Falwell sect say, let’s wait awhile before any changes are made.  Science says time is of the utmost importance.

“Do you trust science, or trust this disdain for science from the anti-environmental fringe?”

[RWC] Note that scientists who promote Mr. White’s global warming position do not “have an agenda” and have “no political wish,” while scientists who disagree are “in servitude to the energy conglomerates and those of the right-wing Limbaugh/Falwell sect.”  The use of “right-wing” is an indication this issue is likely more about politics than climate.

If we understand climatology so well that we can determine the reason for alleged global warming and predict weather far into the future, why can’t we accurately predict tomorrow’s weather?  Why was global cooling the cause celebre only 30 years ago, but now it’s global warming?

The truth is no one knows if anything out of the ordinary is going on with respect to CO2 levels and/or global cooling/warming.  As noted above, the Earth constantly goes through cooling and warming cycles.

It’s my opinion the current global warming “Chicken Littles” have an economic/political/social agenda that has little to do with true concern for global warming.  It’s no coincidence the most efficient energy consumers and least polluting countries – like the United States – would bear the brunt of proposed CO2 emission initiatives like the Kyoto Protocol.  When fringe environmentalists couldn’t support their positions with economic arguments, they needed to find a non-economic reason that could not be disproved.  Enter global warming.  No one can prove their position beyond doubt, so the seriousness of the charge and emotion take precedence.


1. The Cooling World; Newsweek; April 28, 1975.


© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.