A lot of hot air? | Napa Valley Register

Home » Opinion » Letters To The Editor

A lot of hot air?

Monday, February 19, 2007

Comment

Dear editor, Gee, I appreciate Mr. Snyder's efforts to educate us on the science of the complex issue of climate change (“Global warming is a hoax,” Feb. 13).

Apart from the fact that he lives in Napa — perhaps the epicenter of opinions masquerading as fact — I wish the Register would inform us what other qualifications Mr. Snyder has for making his assertions that global warming is a fabrication?

There is certainly a lot of bloviating in the press on both sides of the issue following the release of the alarming U.N. IPCC report. Certainly, there will be elements of that report that will be scoffed at 10 years from now — science and the theories it generates evolve constantly as we accumulate data. However, to suggest that the best consensus of a majority of experts in the field is bunk strikes me as wrongheaded. Skepticism needs to be backed up with something more than opinion. In the meantime, arguing for inaction in the face of scientific consensus seems a bit like feeling an earthquake and running down to the beach to see if a tsunami is coming.

Register readers might find it interesting to take a look at the Web site www.realclimate.org, where scientists share resources and responses to published commentary and skepticism regarding climate change. The more I read and understand, the more I am convinced that we need to react to what the science is telling us.

Matthew Stone / Napa

5 comment(s)

That's Just the thing Matthew, wrote on Feb 19, 2007 9:17 AM:

" There is not a "consensus of a majority of experts in the field" on the issue of Global Warming. Take Al Gore's propaganda piece for example, they had to contact over 1000 "experts in the field" just to get 100 to respond. Of those 100, 17 said they agreed with the conclusions of the film and Al went running around saying he had support from a majority of climate scientists. And that's exactly the problem people have buying into the global warming hype, there is no consensus! And those who promote the "theory" -to use the term loosely- use selective data to support their opinions. But regardless of whether someone wants to buy into the global warming hysteria, what is the real end game here? Is it to shift our energy sources away from foreign oil, away from oil entirely? Or is it to convince the general populace of some phantom demon that will flood the world unless they put certain people into positions of power? I'm all for the former, but I have a strong suspicion all the hype is only an attempt to achieve the later. "

Good work wrote on Feb 19, 2007 8:30 PM:

" Matthew. Nicely said "

hawkeye wrote on Feb 20, 2007 7:34 AM:

" Using Al Gore is a very bad example. He is not a scientist. And yes, there IS a consensus. Haven't you seen all the latest articles? The consensus is stronger now than it was a few days ago. The consensus has nothing to do with Al Gore. Perhaps Mr. Gore is using global warming for his political advantage, but that just distracts people from the issue itself in creating all this political hype. But the evidence and facts are there. We have some degree of warming on our hands. "

Bill Dyer wrote on Feb 26, 2007 8:34 PM:

" I agree with Matthew's comments concerning Napa "as the epicenter of opinion masquerading as facts" and it seems to me that the Register should have a screening process that ensures that the writers who take advantage of the opportunity to contiribute a Commentary have the credentials to justify appearing in this prominant position on the Op-Ed page. "

HelloWorld wrote on Apr 28, 2007 3:20 AM:

" Peace people We love you "

Join the conversation

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Create an account

Comment Guidelines

The goal of the story comments section at NapaValleyRegister.com is to have an open, thought-provoking, civil community forum for all issues.

What gets your comment posted?

• Staying on topic

• Keeping your comment to 300 words or less

• Avoiding name-calling

• Addressing your comments to the message rather than the messenger

What gets your comment deleted?

• Personal attacks

• Derogatory remarks

• Name-calling of any sort

• Going off-topic

• Hate speech

• Racially-insensitive comments

• Implying guilt of a subject in a crime story before there is a court verdict

• Posting e-mail addresses

• Posting comments of a commercial nature

• POSTING WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

• Linking multiple comments together with "to be continued..." to get around the 300 word limit.

The fine print

- Comments are either approved or denied. We do not edit comments.

- You are welcome to modify and resubmit a denied comment.

- Comments may take several hours to be posted.

- Comments posted are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NapaValleyRegister.com, its employees or its parent company.

- Do you have information on a story? Please go to our virtual newsroom to send us a news tip.

- If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact online@napanews.com or add a comment indicating you have an issue and our moderators will review the comment in question.

Search: