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Report on global warming lists ways Utahns can help

Let's lead out in this area. I'd really like to see our State be on the cutting edge and show how it can be done.

Our brilliant govenator...

Let's see... The polar ICE cap on Mars first

The North American Ice sheet 18,000 years ago...

Yep, must be us.

Unbelievably, at the recent meeting of county commissioners and council members with the Utah Association of Counties, several comments were made about the "myth" of global climate change. One presenter (with Questar Gas) stated that Utah could go without lights or driving starting tomorrow and still not make a difference in the global climate picture. Well duh, we don't have a huge percentage of the world population, does that mean we should do nothing, or worse, continue to INCREASE our use of non-renewable, carbon-producing energy? He further stated that all the "easy" sources of natural gas have been tapped in Utah. So we will need many more wells to tap the remaining "pockets" of gas. It will get much more expensive (not to mention environmentally harmful) to exploit this resource. Yet he scoffed at renewable energy sources. Isn't it lovely to know what our local leaders are hearing in "scientific" presentations given by energy companies? In general, our county commissions are so behind the times it is frightening. Get involved!

If those crazy cavemen hadn't starting driving SUV's 18,000 years ago, then we would still be in an Ice Age, right? How else can that be explained?

We do need to take more responsibility today for pollution for health reasons though.

The Governator is right!

As for leading out on this issue, it has been done. The European Union studied the impact of implementing the Kyoto Protocol; let's deal with facts, that is what the Governor signed.

The EU study is available online. Just google it. I would post a link here but the moderator would censor it.

The EU study shows that at a minimum it will cost Utah 65,000 jobs and $3-4 billion in lost wages! It has been estimated that the Kyoto Protocal would hit the US harder, so those numbers would only increase.

Last week I attended my 5th Republican delegate meeting around the state. We had 49 Republican delegates show up in Salt Lake county. We surveyed them and they were equal in their support of Cannon, Christensen, Jacob, Cook, etc. 46 of them agreed to campaign against John Huntsman. Same in other counties.

We do not want to lead out on this issue. Unless Candy is willing to be the first to give up her job.

Oh, and the EU report shows that even with full implementation it did NOTHING to adjust the weather. And cap and trade is a scam worse than Haliburton.

He scoffed, because Utah is not in a position to benefit from renewable energy. Utah is not able to benefit from geothermal, biomass or ethanol. Wind isn't really an option, because we rank at the bottom of capacity, and solar, while available, is so expensive our electric rates would more than triple. Think with your minds, not just with what Al Gore tells us.

The article says that the Utah BRAC felt that 'humans caused global warming', when in fact, the Utah BRAC just repeated what was in the IPCC report, of which there are many critics. Balance is needed in our approach or our economy will go in the toilet. But enviro's don't care about that. Nature will take care of us all! How come the only mayor's on this Utah committee were from the four most liberal areas, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Park City and Moab. Hardly representative.

The point everyone is missing is that each person can make a few small changes in their lives and collectively it can and will make a huge difference. You don't have to give everything up and hug trees. Use your clothes dryer less; use a reel mower (I love mine!) instead of the gas-emitting sort; use energy-efficient light bulbs, appliances, etc.; turn off your lights when you're not using them; plan your errands to make the most efficient route possible; car pool or ride the bus/TRAX once in a while; recycle everything you can; be aware of your purchases and where they come from and make environmentally-conscious choices whenever possible; the list goes on and on of small things we can all do to help make a difference and we wouldn't be sacrificing our day-to-day comforts all that much. Choose a few things and start making a difference today.

Whether or not you believe global warming exists is actually not all that relevant. There are two absolutely indisputable facts that should cause EVERYONE to want to find alternative sources of energy:

1. Fossil fuels cause us to be dependent on the Middle East (and the wackjobs that govern it) to supply our energy needs.

2. Fossil fuels (even the cleanest burning) create pollution. Pollution is ugly and bad for your health.

I support Huntsman's efforts because he's trying to solve these problems in a sensible way.

I am so glad that Utah has finally caught up with California in being not only ahead of the curve but over the edge in this. The report could have praised and supported the only relible and proven energy source but we cannot mention the use of attomic fuel to generate electricity.

The question isn't whether nature can change the climate. We all agree it can. The issue is whether people can also change the climate, and the answer to that appears to be yes. Why would we want to risk making our planet a much worse place to live?

And cutting are energy use really isn't so hard. Take someone who drives 15,000 miles per year in a 20 mpg car. If they cut out 3,000 miles by carpooling and trade up to a 30 mpg vehicle, they would us almost 50% less gas. Piece of cake.

James: since when did the fact that France wasn't able to do something mean that we can't succeed? I still like to think that we're the leaders of the free world. We just have to quit wringing our hands and get to work.

There are so many factors that contribute to climate change that to blame the whole thing on human factors is an oversimplification.

To state that changing everything on our part will make it all better is also an oversimplification with a touch of human arrogance.

I think that we need to look at other factors such as urbanization here in the west. Utah has never had the type of industry we find elsewhere in the US so if Utah is more greatly affected by global warming than other areas doesn't this suggest that there might be factors other than greenhouse gases?

For example, has anyone ever noticed that in the summer time, you can walk on the grass in your bare feet but you can not walk on the street? Isn't replacing tress and grassland with buidings and roads contributing to climate change? I think if we don't consider it, we may be making a big mistake.

We need a moratorium on any new coal fired power plants in the state.... as Idaho did several years ago. Building coal fired power plants in Utah, to provide power to other states, is a lose lose proposition for the residents of Utah.
If your county commissioners are as backward as those in Sevier County.. VOTE THEM OUT. We did get rid of one of our troglodytes last election and hopefully will be replacing another in the next primary.

Taking climate change seriously doesn't have to mean wrecking our economy. Since Germany passed its clean fuels initiatives in 2000 they've generated hundreds of thousands of new jobs in new industries relating to clean, renewable energy. We can do likewise.

To make this happen we need to make it more convenient to live closer to our jobs and take advantage of public transit. It's called land use planning.

The efficiency of solar panels is going up and the number of ways to get them cheaply onto your roofs is growing rapidly. There are companies that charge you _nothing_ to install solar panels on your roof and then sell the electricity back to you at the same rate or less than you're currently paying PacificCorp. At night or when its cloudy, you're on the grid, but on a hot July day, your AC is powered by the sun, not coal.

Changing the way you light your office & home can make a significant difference in your monthly electricity consumption. Compact fluorescent bulbs.

Rethink your priorities.

Get going - it's all doable and you'll be surprised by how painless it is to make a significant reduction in your carbon emissions.

I think we all just need to sit back and let government handle this. Whatever they decide will be right, because they are smarter than us all. If they tell me to stop driving between Noon and 5, then I will, because I am a good little sheep. If they tell me to walk to work instead of drive, or to ride on a train that I pay for with tax dollars, then I will, because I know nothing about the climate. That is what those experts in white coats get paid for.. to think for us.
They have no hidden agenda, nothing like; if I scare the people about Global Warming then my 'research' will be more important and I will get patted on the back and my name will get spoken with important people.
Most climate scientists work for the government, and they only want what is best for the people and I trust my government. They have never done anything to serve themselves.

I thought this stuff only happend in the movies...like Mission Impossible, but I can see that I was wrong.
It is amazing how Rocky Anderson can put on a mask, some different clothes and all of a sudden he becomes Gov. Huntsman.
I wonder where he has put the real Huntsman? Maybe the liberals have him locked in a box somewhere.

They were so smart to wait until after the election before they kidnapped him. That way, Huntsman could say all the right Republican things, and then as soon as he was elected...BAM! They swopped in and nabbed him.
Rocky must have a hard time pulling it off, into Huntsman mode a one time in the day, then back to his old self.
The best part of the plan is; he does not have to stop spewing liberal positions.

Steve Glaser, you mention France and that sums up the EU?

And as for the attitude that we can do it better: Holy cow! A definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. And what are we going to different then the EU? They are restricting production, energy consumption, etc - driving prices higher and higher with absolutely no affect. So for us to do it differently is to basically head towards the stone ages? And guess what, it still won't stop the earth's natural warming and cooling cycles.

Huntsman is a nice guy who fooled us worse than Mike Leavitt did. Steve, are you willing to quite your job today and get in the unemployment line with 65,000 other people? And bare in mind, you will not alter the earth's natural cycles. Are you willing to put your family in poverty over this? But it is Ok to expect 65,000 Utahns to?

This is the single biggest hoax in the history of man, and the Governator has bought into it. Until Steve Glaser and John Huntsman are willing to give up all they have in poverty, it is hypocritical.

Who says global climate change is a hoax? Limbaugh, Hannity? O'Reiley? You guys need better sources of information.

It's time to turn off the talk radio blowhards.

This is what _thousands_ of professional climatoligists, meteorologists, oceanographers and biologists are saying in their peer-reviewed research published in professional science journals:

1) Global climate change is happening, and the speed of these changes is such that it is extremely difficult for many of the world's species to adapt to their new environments - homo sapiens being among them.

2) The explosive growth in our global burning of fossil fuels in the past 75 years is causally connected to the climate change we're experiencing.

The threat of "you'll all lose your jobs if you curb the use of fossil fuels!" is cynical hokum created by the fossil fuels industry.

It's by _not_ taking this issue seriously and making necessary changes that we create the greatest risk to our economy.

Somehow I don't think that "We used to have the greatest snow on Earth" is much of a sales pitch to tourists.

Nick, what have YOU done to siginficantly reduce YOUR carbon footprint?

Like all environmentalists, I suspect it consists of largely symbolic gestures designed to simultaneously make you feel good AND give you something to bash your neighbors with.

When Governor Huntsman proposes closing down Daddy's chemical plants in order to reduce his carbon footprint (his entire fortune has been built on fossil fuels) then maybe I'll consider buying hybrid cars that I can't afford on my current budget in order to reduce mine.

Nick, I like most Americans do not listen to Limbaugh, Hannity, etc - ever. So you will need to find another association to villify.

Let me give a quick run down of the experts who say that there is not evidence to say either any warming trend is occuring, and if so man is causing it.

Heidelberg appeal, 425 climatologists basically beg for reason in this discussion, as oppose to chicken little approach.

Leipzig Declaration in which 85 world reknowed scientologists state there is no association.

Gallop poll of North American climatologists related to this field of search and 83% do not support the greehouse gas theory.

Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine draft a petition, circulated to experts in this area - declaring that no scientific evidence between greenhouse gases and global warming. 17,000 sign the petition.

60 leading climatologists in Canada go on record begging the Canadian Prime Minister to not give into the scare.

Professor Bob Carter, a geologist at James Cook University, Queensland, Australia, says the global warming theory is neither environmental or scientific, but rather, "a self-created political fiasco."

Throw in a month ago we learn that NASA has been cooking the numbers.

Want more?

Again, WHO CARES about global warming? Everyone's rants on global warming are turning attention away from the real issue. Pollution stinks! Gas prices stink! Fanatical Arab dictators stink!

How anybody on either side of the global warming debate can want to maintain the status quo is absolutely mind boggling! We need alternate sources of energy before gas is $10/gallon (I'm connected to the oil business - trust me, it's coming in the next few years).