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Facing reality on global warming
By Times editorial
Published May 30, 2006
A group backed by the oil and auto industries has a curious response to An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore's new movie about global warming. In the documentary film, which is little more than a lecture accompanied by stunning pictures, Gore makes a case for why increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions linked to human activity are threatening the planet. The movie, which has gotten mostly positive reviews, warns of the consequences of persistent warming of the planet - particularly more powerful storms, melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide flooding. Included is an impassioned (yes, Al is capable of passion) plea for action. "This is not so much a political issue as a moral issue," he says. "Our ability to live is at stake." We're not sure why anyone would continue to deny the fact of global warming. There is irrefutable scientific evidence that it is happening. As for solutions, there is room for debate. But how could anyone deny that a reduction in our profligate use of oil - mainly through conservation and alternative fuels - would be anything other than a good thing? The Competitive Enterprise Institute can, in a series of slick 60-second television spots that would be humorous if they weren't so blatantly insulting to our intelligence. One ad, labeled "Energy," features pictures such as a little girl blowing on a dandelion while a soothing female voice says: "The fuels that produce CO2 have freed us from a world of backbreaking labor" (flash to a peasant in the fields). "Now some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant. Imagine if they succeed. What would our lives be like then?" The answer that comes to mind is, "We would be facing reality." But the CEI, which is funded by ExxonMobil among others (Ford distanced itself from this campaign), has a different ending: "Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution. We call it life." See for yourself at www.cei.org, where you can view the ads. We don't recommend a steady diet of CO2. They call it life. We call it unhealthy.
[Last modified May 30, 2006, 06:08:05]
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