by Allan Taylor

Created on: December 28, 2009   Last Updated: January 02, 2010

In my opinion the answer is NO.

Why? Firstly, one has to analyze the question and the semantics used.

This is the cause and effect problem: Activity A causes result B, which we don’t like, so therefore we ban, or discourage activity A, by imposing taxes on it. This is a favorite pastime of politicians. They spend all their time doing it. Politicians can not be trusted as a source of truth. Always you must challenge what they tell you and ask for proof of what they are saying; then watch them dodge and weave away from doing so!

The global warming hysteria over the past decade is a prime example of this. It has been fueled by the MSM (mainstream media) who see it as an endless source of ready newspaper copy that can be fed to their mostly gullible readers, irrespective of whether the "news" is fact or fiction.

There are only a very small number of journalists who can sift the wheat from the chaff, and when they do, often they get fired by their newspaper and so turn to freedom of the Internet to express their views.

To be specific: Does burning of fossil fuels (equals release of CO2 into the atmosphere) cause (increased) global warming. I say, where is the evidence? (1) Prove that it does from empirical data gathered in the real world. After the US and EU have spent many billions of dollars on research no evidence has been found. Computer modeling of climate systems, such as published in IPCC reports does not constitute evidence. We all know that garbage into a computer means garbage out!

The recent "Climategate" scandal about e-mails sent between top global warming scientists exposes the falsification of data and other skullduggery going on behind the scenes, in order to maintain the global warming bandwagon.

Assuming that estimated global warming over the past 100 years of 0.7 degrees C is correct, should we be worried about it? Also, is this a good or bad thing?

Paleoclimate studies for the past 10,000 years show that such a temperature change lies within natural variability (2). There have been other periods when global temperature has been higher than today, the last being the Medieval Warm Period (900 - 1300 AD).

Also,  these warmer periods have been a good thing for human civilization,  resulting in a flourish of activity with building of infrastructure and wonderful cathedrals and expansion of agriculture. The intervening colder periods were by comparison disastrous with crop failures, famine and plague. Global warming is preferable to

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