PrintJune 23, 2009
Lomborg vs. Gore
Bjorn Lomborg somehow finagled an audience with the Pope of Global Warming, Al Gore. Lomborg asked him if he'd be willing to have a debate, not on the scientific merit of Anthropogenic Global Warming, but on whether government money is best spent on fighting it.
Pope Gore took over two and a half minutes to essentially answer "no," he would not be willing to have such a debate. After opening with "I want to be polite to you," Pope Gore compared Lomborg to the tobacco industry that fought the cigarette-cancer link. He also said the entire north polar ice cap will disappear in five years and that each meter of sea-level rise displaces 100,000,000 people. "It is not a matter of theory or conjecture."
Just for those who might be alarmed that 100,000,000 people are about to be displaced, take a gander at a report prepared by the government of Canada . Look at the charts on page 4 of that report. In the last century, sea levels rose about 20 centimeters.
But over the last 24 millennia, sea levels rose over 120 meters, almost all of which happened over 6 millennia ago. So why did 99% of the sea level rise in that time period happen well before Standard Oil was a gleam in John Rockefeller's eye? Heck, before the pyramids were built. That is, how can you blame sea level rises on men burning fossil fuels, when virtually all of that rising happened before men burned fossil fuels?
The Pope says we should just read all the critiques that are out there. He doesn't really have time to stop for this needless debate.
Well, Mr. Gore, if you won't debate, will you at least bet? I'll bet you one year's worth of your home's utility bill (not offset with carbon credits) that the north polar ice cap will still be there in the summer of 2014.
