The gashouse gang

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the media and a gaggle of U.S. senators are pressuring President Bush to reverse the United States policy on Kyoto. But are rising emissions a danger or a blessing in disguise? asks Investor's Business Daily (IBD).

Last week, for example, USA Today ran a front-page story titled, "The Debate's Over: The Globe Is Warming." Actually, there has never been a debate over whether the globe is warming, only whether it's a danger or a natural cycle, and whether man is the major culprit.

USA Today featured a photo of a collapsing Antarctic ice shelf that's been warming for decades.

But it comprises just 2 per cent of the continent, and temperatures show the entire continent has been cooling for decades.

University of Missouri researchers calculated that between 1992 and 2003 the Antarctic ice sheet gained about 45 billion tons of ice, thickening 1.8 centimetres a year.

Research scientist Sherwood Idso, formerly of the Agriculture Department, has conducted 55 experiments showing that increasing CO2 levels increased plant growth, depending on water conditions, and that higher CO2 levels cause plants to develop more extensive root systems and use nutrients more efficiently.

Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It's the source of all plant life. It's good for the rain forest. It's good for agriculture. It increases evaporation from the oceans and rain.

Satellite readings show worldwide vegetative activity increased 6.17 per cent between 1982 and 1999. Instead of a scorched Earth, the Earth is getting greener. Isn't that what environmentalists want?

Source: Editorial, The Gashouse Gang, Investor's Business Daily, June 23, 2005.

For text (subscription required): http://www.investors.com/editorial/issues01.asp?v=6/23

For more on Global Warming: Economics: http://eteam.ncpa.org/policy/Global_Warming/Economics/

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 28 June 2005