Category Archives: environmentalism
Dr. William Gray and Dr. Kevin Trenberth Debate Global Warming — Part 1
The following, which took place before ClimateGate, is a written debate between Dr. Kevin Trenberth — head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder — and Dr. William Gray, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. This debate originally appeared in the Fort Collins Forum and…
Peak Oil?
From the moment oil first made it into the mainstream, peak oil and the imminent depletion of fossil fuels have been vehemently predicted. A by-no-means exhaustive list of those predictions might run something like this: “I take this opportunity to express my opinion in the strongest terms, that the amazing exhibition of oil which has…
Glass Recycling
Read Part 1 of this article here. Take an empty beer bottle. We can either throw that glass bottle away or recycle it. Assume for a moment that we all want what’s best for the planet. Assume, therefore, that we want to use as few resources as possible. Should we recycle our beer bottle, then?…
Recycled Trash
Few arguments are more dangerous than the ones that “feel” right but can’t be justified (Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, 1981). Paradoxically, recycled trash is exactly what you get 99 times out of 100 when the sacred subject of recycling comes up. Recycling is the process whereby rubbish is converted into reusable materials.…
Global Warming
Politically, global warming and climate change have little if anything to do with climate science, and the fact that this subject has become such an overwhelming political issue is a fine testament to how poorly the world understands the legitimate functions of government, and why those functions are legitimate. Indeed, it turns out that the…
A Brief History Of Environmentalism
Environmentalism has so thoroughly permeated world culture that the saving-the-planet rhetoric is accepted even by those who don’t really regard themselves as dyed-in-the-skein environmentalists. It is taught as holy writ in public schools, and it’s espoused by poets, priests, and politicians alike. This monstrous ideology would, given the first opportunity, destroy humankind, a fact of…