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LATEST LETTERS

Global Warming

Thursday, October 25 at 2:00 PM

Ben Waldman of Denver writes:

When I have children, I want them to be able to look westward during the winter and see snow-covered peaks. I want them to be able to go sledding. I want to keep snowboarding until I’m eighty years old. Colorado is a winter-sports haven for people from all over the world, but if we’re not careful, we could lose it all.
Global warming threatens not only the livelihood of everyone living below sea level (whole countries could be swallowed by rising waters), but it threatens the livelihood of the people that our state employs in the winter sports industry. Global warming threatens our local famers too. As the snow melts it feeds our fields. Without snow to melt, our water supplies will keep dwindling until we can’t even feed ourselves.
Please Governor Ritter, please Senators Salazar and Allard, please all of our Representatives in Congress, support legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. Because if things continue the way they are, we Coloradans are going to feel the effects of global warming very, very soon.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

ben please help out with global warming and stop emitting your deadly co2.
i bet you believe good ole harry reid of nevada that arsonist did not start the fire in california but that it was all global warmings fault.
please do go to sea level and blow real hard, like you idol algore, to keep the tide back.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 02:26 PM

Ben: Another hopeless moron.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 04:19 PM

Ben take comfort from the fact that global warming is part of the natural cycle. The effects of doing nothing and the effects of bankrupting the US to fix the "problem" will not be diserable in your child's lifetime. Your kid could however have a very bleak life if we choose to double or triple the cost of everything. Only the foolish believe that we can turn down the global thermostat to have an immdeiate effect. By the way didn't A basin open the early this year?

Posted by on October 25, 2007 04:21 PM

Touche, 2:26. That was a very well laid out critique proving your intelligence and legitimizing your ideas. I used to think that only idiots thought global warming was a sham.

I still do, but I used to, too (with apologies to the late Mitch Hedberg).

Posted by Grog on October 25, 2007 04:22 PM

I just farted, watch the snow melt.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 04:24 PM

Ben,

Your letter makes me want to cry big old man tears. Please don't bring another CO2 spewing human into the world. Being a moron tends to be genetic. Have a vasectomy. Do it tomorrow. Do it for the planet.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 04:27 PM

If man is the main cause of global warming, then man should not be running around in the mountains in winter. Driving thier suv's up the hillside to go skiing, sledding, or even snowboarding. Not only are the emmiting carbon dioxide butjust think of the damage to nature . How inconsiderate of them to cut trees down and put up ski lifts. Wasteing energy to lug thier selfish backsides to the top so that they can contaminate the pristine snow as they come down the destroyed mountain side.

Not to mention the condos, town homes, and hotels they have errected up in the mountains. Destroying the land to build shelter for them to drink and party in at nite.

Then there is the pollution caused by all the state vehicals that are out trying to make the roads safe for them to get to thier destroyed mountain ski resorts. The sand and salt put onto the roads washing off killing vegitation from the drainage. The mag chloride that is just awful.

These global warming alarmists are so selfish and hypocritical.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 04:58 PM

4:58 PM

Don't stop there. Skis, boards, Gortex, nylon all have a huge carbon footprint. If you exercise every day, you are making more CO2 than a couch potato. Don't forget summer sports; moutain bikes, back packs etc. What is the carbon footprint of the average Mountain House Freeze dried dinner? How much CO2 comes from hauling river rafts from the bottom of a run to the top. The rafting trip does no useful work, you endup exactly where you started, but it pollutes the planet.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 05:33 PM

ben you cant go to the mountains as it will lead to more global warming while you drive up there or ride a bike as you will be expelling co2. stop it now and save the snow.

Posted by on October 25, 2007 06:33 PM

Ice core data shows CO2 follows the warming. We are coming out of the midevil ice age and both warming (1 C) and elevated CO2 are normal. With China building a new coal plant every 3 weeks, ruining our economy will accomplish nothing. The Mars ice caps are melting due to the sun. Man's contribution of the the world's CO2 is less than 0.2% of total and reductions will do nothing. We have an energy crisis and buy energy from countries who hate us. We do not have a GHG crisis!!!

Posted by PAK on October 25, 2007 08:10 PM

PAK, we are in an inter-glacial period, not comming out of a midevil ice age, whatever that is.

Carbon dioxide builds after a warming period, true, but in the past it did not grow as quickly as it is now. Something besides warming is causing the CO2 to rise to much higher levels. What do you think is doing this?

Now, why this is happening is the question.

Posted by Sharon B. on October 26, 2007 01:53 AM

Ben, if you want to stop Global Warming then all you need to do is puchase "carbon offsets" from my company. I'll sell you as many as you need.
Al

Posted by G-man on October 26, 2007 06:20 AM

I dont unnerstand global warmning therefore it dont exist.

Posted by Keith on October 26, 2007 06:54 AM

No Keith, the problem is I do understand it and it dosen't exist. You don't understand it, but you goose step along because someone told you to.

Posted by on October 26, 2007 08:49 AM

No Keith, the problem is I do understand it and I don't believe it is GW in caused by human activity. You don't understand it, but you goose step along because someone told you to.

Posted by on October 26, 2007 08:58 AM

In the house

Posted by The Deniers on October 26, 2007 09:28 AM

It is no wonder so many of you on the right are so laughably misinformed on this issue

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/story?id=3775766&page=1

Posted by jay on October 26, 2007 09:49 AM

Jay,

Thanks for your exhaustive research on the issue. You've just made my point. ABC news as a source. Please! i've been to virually every state and regional conference on GHG. The Environemental Mafia is there in full force, but they never bring a scientifst. It is always lawyers that show up. This issue is essentially a full employment act for lawyers. And it is a wet dream for them. They get to file suit over a natural climate flucuation than can not be disproved. It might be 1 deg warming in 100 years, someone needs to pay now.

Posted by on October 26, 2007 10:00 AM

Jay,

Posted by on October 26, 2007 10:01 AM

So cruton at 10:00...do you deny that the WH has a long history of editing scientific documents in order to redact politically inconvenient information and conclusions?

Remember...your credibility is at stake here...not that you care because you don't have the courage to sign your posts, but still...

Posted by jay on October 26, 2007 12:34 PM

Jay,

Thanks for the cruton comment. I have 25 years in environmental engineering and science under my belt, I have a IQ of 145. I live and breath this subject. You, like so many other smug liberals, basiscally say that anyone that disagrees with you is ignorant. You are wrong. I don't sign my posts because, as I stated, I attend virtually every conference of GHG that is held anywhere in the West. If you in your infinite wisdom and knowledge would attend just one, you would see that there is no discussion as to how to halt Global Warming, they are basiscally how do we get the most leverage and extract the most money form the most people. Cap & Trade, purchase of CO2 offsets, bio fuel subsudies will not remove a single ton of CO2 emmission. Oddly these are the main topics at these conferences. The GHG are not looking to fix GHG. If they were nuclear energy is the only way to go.

BTW my credabilty is sound on the Federal, State, Local and industrial level. Your unimpeachable source of data was an ABC TV news report. Wow don't I seem foolish.

Posted by on October 26, 2007 01:40 PM

1:40PM,
I'm sorry, but I don't see how you can establish your credibility, credentials, or professional history without at least an identity to verify. Just saying it is so in an anonymous forum does little to assuage my skepticism.

Also, in my experience, most competent and professional scientists will not engage in political mudslinging (i.e. you smug liberals), as it affects their credibility in being unbiased.

Also, a question: Assuming your credentials are valid, why assert your opinions anonymously on a free-for-all forum? Are there not better avenues of communication for such a renowned scientist such as yourself, and would your time not be better spent pursuing those avenues and persuading more influential people than the roody-poops on this forum?

Posted by Dan on October 26, 2007 01:53 PM

Ben:

I know you will probably not check this link out because the truth is not valid for someone like you. Al Gore is your god.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XDI2NVTYRXU

Posted by ml on October 26, 2007 01:58 PM

Dan,

I not trying to establish my credability. My point is that everyone that disagrees with you is not automatically and idiot or moron. I have read the available data and have come up with my own conclusions using critcal thinking. Sorry, I happen to disagree with your position.

Posted by On Ritter's Staff on October 26, 2007 02:06 PM

cruton I'll ask again in the hopes you'll have the intellectual honestly and courage to actually answer the question:

Do you deny that the WH has a long history of editing scientific documents in order to redact politically inconvenient information and conclusions?

Posted by jay on October 26, 2007 02:37 PM

Jay,

I don't care about WH (I assume that in your cutesy way this means White House). But fine the WH lies thru their teeth. Who gives a crap. If you believe either side is telling the full truth and not bending the data for there on purposes, you are a true idiot. Put down the remote and read something. Don’t get you news from one source. Try a little critical thinking.

If you don't think the IPCC or Al Gore redacted data or provided only the facts that support their claims, you are a useful idiot.

Posted by on October 26, 2007 02:48 PM

"But fine the WH lies thru their teeth. Who gives a crap"

There you go....so the far right wing tactic of attacking the messenger you used above in response to the ABC story about the WH redacting credible scientific info from yet another WH report is just that....a far right wing tactic.

Just wanted to put you in the proper credibility bucket.

By the way...I've got you beat by 4 points.

Posted by jay on October 26, 2007 02:54 PM

PAK said "Ice core data shows CO2 follows the warming"

Yes, increased CO2 output results from warming due to increased biodegradation, shrinking ice coverage, etc.
However, it also leads warming, and the last 650,000 years in the ice-cores from Antarctica show this.

When CO2 level moves down to the 180ppm end of the scale an Ice-age follows, and when it edges up to the 300ppm max of the record, global temperatures climb in response. The hottest periods followed the high CO2 record.
This agrees with our understanding of the physics involved.

Right now we have jumped the max of the last 650,000 years, and are sitting at 380ppm, and at the same time, the oceans and other carbon sinks, seem to have lost some of their ability to soak up CO2.
If the record is a predictor of anything, then we are in for a pretty interesting heating period.

Get the picture?

Posted by Bangalore Skank on October 26, 2007 06:23 PM

ben,Find out the facts about this natural occurence before you have children.If you don't you will be another unqualified liberal parent.

Posted by Keith on October 27, 2007 09:37 AM

Keith, if you had been paying one bloody whit of attention to the science news, you might have noticed that they don't regard this warming event as a "natural occurence" but as something humans set in motion.

Do try to keep up, will you ducky?

Posted by Bangalore Skank on October 28, 2007 03:11 AM