Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler
Two points to make on this topic.
One, our country is sending 5 billion dollars per week to a foreign country for their oil. We will never see this money again in our country.
Two, will it really matter how much oil the earth has for our use, if we discover that global warming is real, and now we've painted ourselves into a corner we can not get out of?
We are getting poorer and hotter. Or are we?
Something to think about.
Jim.
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Just for discussions sake.
On point 1, where does the money go? Do the Arabs just bury the 5 billion dollars a week in the sand?
Sorry, but when people make this myopic point it sort of gets me going. Economics 101 taught me, US dollars are only good in the US. Japan has Yen, Europe Euros, Mexican Pesos....etc. You can't walk into a Saudi coffee shop and pay $5 for your morning joe, you gotta spend 20 Riyal for that.
So what's an Arab supposed to do with the US$ cash? Spend it in America. This means that a foreigner is the one buying real estate and shopping at expensive stores and eating really good meals, In the USA.
Now if you have a problem with Saudi citizens owning US property and eating our food and buying Gucci hand bags...That is a legitimate gripe. Not one I'd gripe about, but at least you'd be griping about a fact.
Point 2.
Above we see a graph showing the last 450,000 years of temperature here on Earth. Notice we're at sort of a peak. These peaks are short periods of time that exist in between Ice Ages, where 2 mile thick glaciers cover Chicago & such. Is Global Warming real? Hell yeah! But really, do we want the alternative?
So the real argument is "Why isn't the climate just like it was in 1966, or 1894, or....pick a year/decade." We really can't control the Earths climate that closely I'd guess. If we have disrupted the cycle and are stuck in a warm period, I for one will accept that over an Ice Age. I don't think worrying about what is the ideal climate has a high place on my priority list, just so long as the whole "80% of the habitable region of Earth being frozen year round" detail is left out.
In other words, I'll take palm trees in Chicago and Florida under 5 feet of water, over 2 mile thick glaciers in Chicago and 5% of the surviving human race living in small habitable pockets at the Equator.