Defending the Truth

So what is your solution to reducing carbon emmisions? Tearing down all the mansions? I don't exactly see you guys calling for the destruction of Biltmore

But he is reducing emissions elsewhere by purchasing "green 'power.

What are YOU doing to reduce carbon emissions? After all the effects of carbon emissions effect you too !

There is something that emits more carbon into the atmosphere than the human race ever has, and that's volcanoes. So instead of worrying about how we're going to contain cow farts, and prevent people from cooking their scrambled eggs all the way in the morning, we should start looking into alternative forms of energy THAT WORK. Wind, and solar are never going to replace fossil fuels. Hydrogen is our best bet, and I would be spending more time trying to make hydrogen affordable and less time worrying about Al Gore's carbon footprint.

As I mentioned before. Green power does nothing. No "dirty" power plant (natural gas or coal) has ever to my knowledge reduced its production to compensate for customers switching to green power. Thus, no one who has switched to green power has done anything to help the environment.

Hydrogen does not exist in nature, it has to be created via a chemical process, which requires more energy than the hydrogen can deliver!

In other words, hydrogen is NOT the answer.

As for volcanoes, we cannot prevent them from erupting. But we can reduce our carbon footprint in other ways.

Sounds like you are getting your "information" from Rush Limbaugh??

geesh

did you bother reading the link I provided?

Only because not enough people have switched!

Once the transition to a greener mindset gains critical mass then emissions can be reduced.

It seems as though you want to give up before we get started - why are you so negative about all this ?

That's very un-American!

CO2 has increased by 30% since the start of the industrial revolution...Are you going to claim valcanoes caused all this?

Personally I think it is a combination of things like the industrial revolution and deforestation. The two I mentioned we can have control over.

Ummm...yes, it is.

While Gore might not have changed his carbon emission from his home or jet, when he funds a cabon offset program by choosing to pay more in his electric bill per kilowatt and gas bill per cubic foot of gas than other people, he is essentially paying for the planting of trees and for the construction and implementation of "green" electric producing technologies, such as a modern windmill.

And, because he is paying into this program, the overall effect of this is that he has effectively lowered his carbon footprint because trees absorb and lockup carbon long-term during photosynthesis and windmills feed "green" electricity to the power distribution grid.

Ummm...no, they don't...at least not during an average year in modern times:

"Comparison of CO2 emissions from volcanoes vs. human activities.
Scientists have calculated that volcanoes emit between about 130-230 million tonnes (145-255 million tons) of CO2 into the atmosphere every year (Gerlach, 1999, 1992). This estimate includes both subaerial and submarine volcanoes, about in equal amounts. Emissions of CO2 by human activities, including fossil fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring, amount to about 22 billion tonnes per year (24 billion tons) [ (Marland, et al., 1998) - The reference gives the amount of released carbon (C), rather than CO2.]. Human activities release more than 150 times the amount of CO2 emitted by volcanoes--the equivalent of nearly 17,000 additional volcanoes like Kilauea (Kilauea emits about 13.2 million tonnes/year)!"

Volcanic Hazards: Gases (sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, hyrdogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride)