Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Paul, You Self-Proclaimed Ignorant Slut
CU law professor Paul Campos writes an unintentionally hilarious opinion piece about global warming. I have to give him some praise for being honest, but it is a weird combination and therefore funny.
He starts off on shaky ground calling an anti-hysteria commercial "hilariously dishonest" and "so ridiculous on its face". What is getting him so worked up? The claim that CO2 is a naturally occurring atmospheric gas. Regarding the commercial he disdains, he says:
The idea, you see, is that carbon dioxide is a good and natural kind of gas. We exhale it, while plants consume it. It's just part of the circle of life, so what is it with these wacky environmentalists and their irrational hatred of good old CO2?
But of course CO2 is a naturally occurring atmospheric gas which we do indeed exhale and on which plants rely. The problem, as with other necessities of life, is the amount. We all need water to live, for example, but too much and we drown. We need oxygen to live, but too much and we pass out and die. So what does the professor know regarding claims that we have too much CO2 in the atmosphere?
Like 99.87 percent of the people who are opining on the issue, I haven't actually studied the scientific literature relating to global warming.
Oh. But he knows the commercials are bunk. Got it.
He starts off on shaky ground calling an anti-hysteria commercial "hilariously dishonest" and "so ridiculous on its face". What is getting him so worked up? The claim that CO2 is a naturally occurring atmospheric gas. Regarding the commercial he disdains, he says:
The idea, you see, is that carbon dioxide is a good and natural kind of gas. We exhale it, while plants consume it. It's just part of the circle of life, so what is it with these wacky environmentalists and their irrational hatred of good old CO2?
But of course CO2 is a naturally occurring atmospheric gas which we do indeed exhale and on which plants rely. The problem, as with other necessities of life, is the amount. We all need water to live, for example, but too much and we drown. We need oxygen to live, but too much and we pass out and die. So what does the professor know regarding claims that we have too much CO2 in the atmosphere?
Like 99.87 percent of the people who are opining on the issue, I haven't actually studied the scientific literature relating to global warming.
Oh. But he knows the commercials are bunk. Got it.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:17 AM 
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I think you missed the point of Campos's column, which is that Gore is a whole lot more certain about GW than he has a right to be. I think you agree with that.
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