Trillions of dollars are being spent today and so many trillions more are planned to be spent to change our entire way of life because there is evidence that a slight change appears to be taking place in the temperature of our planet and that mankind is the cause. This entire issue of the history of structural changes that have taken place on planet earth, many of which affect climate, needs greater media coverage to better inform readership.
Although intelligent life appeared relatively recently on earth, the planet has apparently been in existence for eons. From religious records and our own history and geography studies, we have learned that many enormous changes have taken place on our planet during those eons. We have had ice ages. Archeologists tell us that deserts now exist where there were once large bodies of water. I have read that it is likely that some continents that are closer together now were once further apart, and others that were further apart may be now closer. There have been many volcanic eruptions in many different areas of the world. It is legendary how many ships have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle over centuries. I recently read a report that states that the earth may be alternately heating and cooling slightly every eighty years. If the earth were to rotate around the sun a bit closer or a bit further away every few decades, it would not likely be noticed by scientists. A substantial portion of the known earth at the time apparently came to be underwater because we are told Noah had to build an ark. Here in the United States, there was a great dust storm in the early 1900s when vast areas of farmland could not be cultivated. I have long wondered if this was a major cause of the stock market collapse in 1929 and the depression of the thirties. It has long been known that our planet has always been undergoing major change, before and after the introduction of intelligent life here, some due to changes in climate and others which were not.
Today, we choose to focus on a minor change in world temperature. Although history tells us that there may be other reasons for this change and we do not seem to know whether it is temporary or permanent, we choose to believe that this change is manmade and caused by the increasing emissions of carbon monoxide into our atmosphere. If climate warming proves to be permanent, it is reasonable to assume that carbon monoxide emissions are at least partially responsible. In my mind, however, many questions remain to be answered.
Once I was asked a question during a discussion about this topic. If we are removing billions of barrels of oil out of the ground, what are we replacing it with? I have no answer, of course, but it is also true that I have never heard this question asked before. If North America and other sections of our planet were completely covered with ice at one time centuries ago, is it not true then that icebergs have been melting for centuries long before we discovered petroleum and carbon monoxide? Can it be that all of the planets in our solar system have been gradually and very slowly moving closer to the sun since the dawn of time and that gradual warming is common to all of them? Is the sun getting hotter very slowly? What other changes are taking place caused by our dramatically growing population on earth that may also be a contributor to change?
We need to look at what problems are being caused by this global change in temperature and what solutions are offered. Many of the earth’s governments and prominent leaders will just tell us that the earth is being destroyed and we will not be able to live here anymore without being very specific. I recently read a report by a group called the “Environmental Defense Fund” which stated some changes they attribute to climate change. They are identified as follows:
Decreases in global beer and an insecure food supply due to extreme drought and heat resulting in higher food prices
Danger and loss of insurance to homes in flood prone areas
Changes in insect control can lead to certain types of deforestation
Loss of coral reefs in our oceans
Drying up of lakes and rivers
Loss of coffee growing regions
These are substantial changes. It is interesting that I have never read an article about the changes that occurred when oil production was halted in the United States and ethanol was required to be added to our fuel supply during the Obama administration. Much agricultural land was converted to producing corn for ethanol. Food and gasoline prices escalated substantially, and production of much of our fruit and vegetables went overseas with corresponding reduction in quality. We still use ethanol today and production of petroleum at home is again being curtailed in the Biden administration. Prices are rising substantially again. There seems always to be a terrible economic price to pay when government interferes in the direction of our economy.
What solutions are offered. It seems that we have long since learned to use hydroelectric power and nuclear energy has been converted to use for electric power. As solar energy has become more economically practical, we have begun to use solar energy for electric power generation also. We have also begun to use wind for electric power creation. Recently, our lords and masters worldwide seem to have decided that we must immediately convert to total solar energy with enhanced battery storage for total replacement of gasoline, natural gas and coal. There is no question that there is a place for solar panels on homes and commercial structures to contribute some of the energy used in those buildings. If we convert all available land for solar energy production, however, to fuel a billion cars and trucks and transportation worldwide, where will we grow food and how much will it cost? How many thousands of electric plants will we have to add to the grid to store and deliver this power to recharge our vehicles? I believe it is unlikely that solar and wind can possibly deliver all the power that will be needed. In fact, many of the added power plants will actually be forced to use natural gas, coal and nuclear power. In my mind, there are questions as to whether the emissions from natural gas and coal are much better for the environment than the carbon monoxide that we are getting now. It is also worthy of note that nuclear power, while it produces cleaner energy, also produces nuclear waste material that is extremely dangerous and must be stored in the earth’s crust. Nuclear waste can remain deadly to human life for hundreds of years.
I recently wrote a book called “Past Present and Future of Planet Earth.” In this text, I mention that it is my contention that government interference in a productive beneficial economy always seems to have devastating effects of the lives of the people it serves. It certainly appears that conversion to as much solar and wind power as is practical would be beneficial. But the economy has already started to do that on its own without help to what extent it is practical. Petroleum use will gradually decrease and should not be stopped until it is no longer needed. The population of planet earth has been throwing garbage in the oceans and causing damage to our air and water forever and population keeps increasing. Perhaps the trillions we are planning to spend on conversion of our energy sources would be better spent trying to clean up after ourselves as much as possible. It is noteworthy that the United States and Europe, who have done so much to clean up their own air and water, are asked to deliver so much to the solution while the major polluters of the world, like Russia, China, India and other nations, are given a pass to continue to pollute the environment for the near term. Some additional common sense needs to be added to worldwide energy policy.