Fight Global Warming: Eat a Cow

Okay, here’s the issue: Thirty-two thousand scientists claim the earth is warming because of man’s activities. On the flip side, thirty-two thousand scientists have a different point of view. They either deny climate change, or say that it’s a fact, but only by a small amount and it’s not due to anything manmade. So where’s the truth in this whole mess?

I’m no scientist, and I don’t even play one on T.V., but for years I’ve heard the mantra of tree huggers bemoaning the rise in the earth’s temperature—read that as, "The sky is falling!" I even enthusiastically attended the first Earth Day celebration in Trenton, New Jersey back in 1970. That may give you some idea of my age. But as the years went on and the hue and cry from the hard-core environmentalists grew louder, I saw no real change in published data, or the environment.

Meteorologists claimed that our hot summers resulted from the ongoing climate change, but when I looked at the board just behind our friendly local weather man, I noticed that today’s temperature of 95 paled in comparison to the 102 clicks on the thermometer recorded on this same day 35 years ago. Well go figure, it’s happened before. Likewise, they blamed snowstorms and blizzards on global warming, but talk to any "old timer" and they’ll tell you about the blizzard of 50 years ago that covered all the buildings downtown.

In 2005, we experienced a particularly active hurricane season with 31 tropical depressions, 28 total storms, 15 hurricanes, and 7 major hurricanes. The global warmists came out of every nook and cranny wagging their fingers at us with an "I told you so" attitude. Then they promptly warned that the following year would prove even worse. In reality, the total number of storms in 2006 dropped to 10, and we had only 5 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes. By the same token, the statistics for 2007 and 2008 have shown us hurricane seasons within the norms. But of course, the climate changers never beat their chests in a mea culpa to ask forgiveness for their wrong predictions.

I have no doubt that the environmentalists want the best for all of us and dear Mother Earth, however, their mindset tends toward the pessimistic and they cling to a science that has not grown out of its infancy. Even the science of computer modeling has a long way to go before it can call itself mature. Yet, based on these unproven methodologies, they say we should change every aspect of our lives and regress to riding bicycles, turning to vegetarianism, and depending on Big Brother to tell us how to live. I’m sorry, but these guys can’t even predict the weather for tomorrow with any accuracy. How much faith can I put in their dire warnings for the world 20, 50, or 100 years from now?

Now add the fact that scientists have reported global warming on Mars, Mercury, and Venus. I wonder if the Martians are running around the red planet in their imposing SUVs leaving a huge carbon footprint. Could it be, as the other half of the scientific community says, that this rise in temperature has come about because of a warming sun? Hmm. I don’t propose to know all the answers, but I can use my critical thinking skills not to accept everything the media pushes at us. I may not have a degree in science, but I have a fair idea when things don’t add up.

One of the things that disturbs me most about this whole issue is that as soon as I get into a discussion on global warming with one of my environmentalist friends or relatives, they grow very agitated. They tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m not a scientist (Neither are they.); and they claim thousands of scientists believe in global warming (Other thousands do not.); and they say I haven’t studied the subject long enough (I celebrated Earth Day before they were born.). They get ugly and call me names like narrow-minded, reactionary, and others I’d rather not repeat here. With such a mindset that refuses a calm, studied, and logical exchange of ideas, we can never come to the truth. I thought science prided itself on being open to every possibility and then set out to prove or disprove it with ongoing observation, research, and study. Sadly, we have a group of people who have massaged and managed a set of data that "proves" their point of view and have stopped there. And these are the people imposing their will on us.

I recently made a presentation at a writer’s conference in Amarillo, Texas. At one of the meals, I overheard a conversation between two young people.

One young lady said, "I’m a vegetarian. I don’t think we should be raising animals that contribute to global warming."

At that, another young lady smiled as she took a bite of her steak. She chewed, and politely wiped her mouth with her napkin and said. "I agree. We need to fight global warming, but I think we should do it a little differently. Eat a cow!"

Joan works as the Public Liaison Officer for the Davis Mountains Trans-Pecos Heritage Association in Alpine, Texas, is an author of several books including A Serpent’s Tooth and Shadow Dancing. Joan invites you to check out her blog at Joansbooks.wordpress.com.