The house of Representatives recently passed legislation aimed at stopping global warming. Also known as the Cap and Trade bill (http://www.rules.house.gov/110/text/110_hr6899text.pdf) - this legislation is an absurd attempt to regulate the types of energy Americans will be allowed to use. Among the many provisions, are sections aimed at reducing CO2 emissions back to levels not seen since the 1950's. Also, virtually all commercial enterprise that emits any CO2, will be taxed for those emissions. Of course companies generally pass the price of new taxes onto consumers. A system of "carbon credits" will be setup so that companies that sequester CO2 or reduce output will have surplus credit that can then be sold to other companies. Markets will be built to trade these credits like stocks or bonds. Several groups estimate the effects of this bill to be the largest tax increase in World history. Of course the politicians will tell you that they are trying to save us from the effects of "climate change".

Of course here is where the problem starts. In order to support such a Cap and Trade system, you must believe in Global Warming and then attribute nearly 100% of that warming to human activities involving CO2. You must also believe that global warming will have only negative effects on our way of life. To get to that point, you must believe that - the climate does not change on its own and that most CO2 in the atmosphere is emitted by human activity. I'll debunk all of that. Lets throw a few facts on the table.

• CO2 comprises roughly 4% of the atmosphere and even the most dire alarmist will tell you that no more than 1% of the total CO2 is human caused. (volcanic activity emits CO2, animals emit CO2, decay emits CO2, Oceans emit CO2, Natural fires emit CO2, etc). So we are talking about regulating .01% of the total atmosphere here. Keep that in mind. It is estimated that the US emits about 18% of the worldwide CO2 and the Bill will cut that by 70% - so much smaller even.
• The climate does change on its own without human influences. The late 1880's saw worldwide temperatures rise by several degrees for a number of years. The 1950's and early 70's saw a multi year drop in temperatures (some climatologists in the 70's warned we were entering a new ice age). The medieval world saw a mini ice age followed by a global warming period that allowed Vikings to farm Greenland and Cities to flourish in Europe - started the industrial revolution. We know great ice sheets once covered most of North America. It seems clear that the climate does shift up and down frequently - all by itself.
• Recent NASA measurements of the sun reveal that the total energy output of the sun does fluctuate by a few percentage points. Multi year observations saw both visible light and heat vary over time by small amounts.  The medieval cool period mentioned previously was during a period of very few sunspots - indicating the sun played some role in the phenomenon. Clearly - changes on the sun influence the climate on Earth.
• While CO2 emissions worldwide have grown significantly over the past 8 years, the average temperature has actually cooled by almost 1 degree Celsius since 2002. Proof that CO2 alone cannot be responsible for any observed warming trends. This simple fact has led to the new buzz word - "Climate Change". Hard to call it global warming when it has cooled a bit.
• Not all climatologists agree with human caused global warming. Almost 35% of climatologist actually disagree and have worked up a number of alternative theories. Among them is Dr Gray at CSU - noted for his annual Hurricane predictions. Many scientists disagreed with the United Nations report on climate but were not allowed to express any opinions in the final report due to political pressure.
• Studies carried out in the late 1980's in Colorado and Nevada actually showed benefits from having a greater concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Plants grew larger and faster, rainfall increased, cops became easier to grow in certain soils. CO2 is not necessarily a bad thing.

Look, I don't advocate pollution. I'd actually like to see much less pollution - I'm sure the vast majority of Americans agree. But we cannot put a stranglehold on our economy based on fabricated fears of Global warming. There has got to be some rationale and some positive economic effects before we take sweeping action. The Bill passed by the house will force massive price increases onto the American public and change our way of life forever. Gasoline engines in our cars and coal in our power plants might go away. That will lead us to use far more expensive forms of energy to keep up our lifestyles.

Keep in mind who "owns" and controls the major auto makers these days. Changes will be forced on us from many directions here. We have all got to speak out strongly against this legislation. Once the Cap and Trade system is in place - it will be very difficult to remove it. China and many other developing nations will not be joining us in this crusade to reduce CO2. Its just our own congress racing us towards this economic suicide. All on the belief that it might have a small effect on our atmosphere and the temperature.