Suggested Discussion Outline

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Discussion Outline

Post by johnkarls »

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SUGGESTED DISCUSSION OUTLINE

A. The extensive record set forth in “Merchants of Doubt” about how the same small group of scientists purposely created confusion regarding the scientific conclusions about --

A-1. Tobacco causing lung cancer, etc.
A-2. The danger of second-hand smoke.
A-3. Sulfur emissions causing acid rain.
A-4. The cause of the ozone hole.
A-5. The existence and causes of global warming.

B. The observations of “Merchants of Doubt” regarding how the mission of the rogue scientists was made easier by the “Fairness Doctrine” that used to be employed by the media.

C. Where do we go from here vis-à-vis global warming???

C-1. Polling indicates 65% - 70% of the American public now believes in the existence and causation of global warming.

C-2. The remaining barriers to effective action.

C-2-a. Expense.
C-2-b. Competition.
C-2-c. International cooperation.
C-2-d. Other

C-3. Footnotes vis-à-vis Biomass, Hydro and Geothermal -- the Q&A’s always mentioned nuclear, wind and solar as the three energy sources that do NOT produce greenhouse-gas emissions. The reasons for omitting Biomass, Hydro and Geothermal are --

C-3-a. BIOMASS -- Biomass (e.g., ethanol from corn in the U.S. and switch grass in Brazil as was highly recommended by our 7/13/2011 author Robert Repetto) is fraudulent since such products produce as much carbon emissions as fossil fuels. Proponents of biomass can be spotted easily because they constantly frame the issue as “fossil fuels” rather than “carbon fuels” or “greenhouse-gas-emission fuels”!!! (For more details, please see the exchange of e-mails between John Karls and Ted Gurney posted on this bulletin board under “Participant Comments” for the 7/13/2011 meeting).

C-3-b. HYDRO -- Hydro-electric power does not produce greenhouse gases. However, in the U.S. (and many other countries), environmentalists block the construction of new dams. No significant dam has been constructed in the U.S. since the Great Depression when many dams were built under President Roosevelt’s public works programs.

C-3-c. GEOTHERMAL -- As we studied for our 4/13/2011 meeting vis-à-vis the Japanese nuclear accident, the earth’s core is 7,000ºF. This is hotter than the surface of the sun, because 60% - 90% of the heat in the earth’s core is produced by nuclear power as uranium and thorium in the earth’s core comprise the earth’s largest nuclear reactor!!! However, harnessing this power has rarely proved commercial and Geothermal has been producing less than 1% of America’s electricity.

D. Where do we go from here vis-à-vis future “Merchants of Doubt:??? (Even though this is not a “today issue.”)

D-1. It is noted that our authors pointed out that the Federal Government did sue the tobacco companies for fraud.

D-2. For our 5/11/2011 meeting, we did consider a proposal by “Yours Truly” for a Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-Mail Campaign asking the federal government to prosecute for perjury economists that knowingly provide false opinions to Members of Congress. [As reported on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org vis-à-vis that meeting: “The consensus of the other attendees is that perjury in Congressional investigations is protected by the ‘Free Speech’ provision of the First Amendment -- even though every sports fan knows that such perjury in a Congressional investigation was the basis for the recent criminal trial of Barry Bonds and that it is the basis for the criminal trial of Roger Clemens that is scheduled to begin this summer.”]

D-3. Procedurally, what is the feasibility of instituting a class-action lawsuit if the federal government fails to act??? And taking global warming as an example, would it be possible to define a “class” that comprises plaintiffs, some or all of whom are not yet in existence???

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