Jargon Watch

The energy that has to replace the burning of fossil fuels, because we have no alternative, now that global warming is upon us.

Also referred to as clean energy, because it is untainted by petro-politics, and as renewable energy, because you never run out of it (and so never have to fight wars over it.)

As Mr. Portokalos says in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, "Give me any word, and I show you the root of that word is Greek." He can even do it with "kimono", so anthropogenic -- close cousin of anthropology -- should be easy for us. It means "caused by human activity."

In relation to global warming, anthropogenic emissions are the gases, most notably carbon dioxide, that we humans have pumped into the air, especially over the last 150 years of modern industrial life, without giving it a thought, as if the atmosphere has the limitless capacity to absorb our waste. It doesn't.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration is the name of a technology, still in development, that is supposed to help us clean up the emissions that come from the burning of coal. It has acquired the status of a myth, the kind that when it's mentioned, thinking ceases.

Here's what the Competitive Enterprise Institute had to say about it in their ad campaign:

"Carbon Dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life."

It was probably one of the most ridiculed ad campaigns of recent memory. Last word has to go to Rafael Baptista, who posted this comment on Gristmill.

"How about you make a campaign called 'Uric Acid. They call it urine. We call it lemonade.'"

The most highly radioactive form of carbon known to politicians. Like Kryptonite to Superman, carbon taxes are believed to rob politicians of their powers through unavoidable election loss. No one knows for sure, because no politician has had the courage to really try to enact one.

A carbon tax would be the simplest and most efficient way to solve climate on an economy-wide basis, and the most rational thing to do. It would be beneficial to every living thing except politicians.

Last we checked, they're not on the endangered species list.

The best way to understand the role of China in America's global warming debate is to understand the function it plays in the national psyche. Here's one analysis.

America has made China the victim of its own psychological projection, a defense mechanism in which one blames others for one's own unacceptable attributes.

So rather than take responsibility for being far and away the world's biggest global warming polluters on a per capita basis, Americans have been duped into pointing the finger at China.

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines it this way: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

So let's use common sense and think about evidence of global warming.

The ice caps are melting, massive chunks of ice are collapsing into the ocean, and glaciers are in retreat all over the world. Nobody can argue with that.

Okay, but how do we know fossil fuels are the cause?

We've always wondered: what does java have to do with cars? We finally figured it out. CAFE must refer to the fact that while Detroit automakers were out having a cup of coffee, Toyota came and ate their lunch.

Detroit has been resisting improving the corporate average fuel efficiency standards (CAFE) of its cars for decades and has dug a nice, deep hole for the industry that has been backbone of the American economy for as long as anyone can remember.

The pejorative term that refers to U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D - MI) for being in bed with the auto industry and standing in the way of legislation tightening fuel economy standards that could help solve climate. Rep. Dingell is a ranking member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He's been in Congress five decades.

The term dubbed by environmentalists to succinctly express their desire for the feds to save oil by forcing the Detroit Three to improve the fuel economy of cars -- instead of drilling for more oil in Alaska. Drilling Detroit before drilling the Arctic Wildlife Refuge could save billions of barrels, far exceeding what's available in Alaska. It's one of those super obvious, "no-duh" ways to solve climate.

Think of a dormant volcano. It's got a cap on it.

An emissions cap is a similar idea. It's a legally binding mandate that puts a lid on greenhouse gas emissions, and slowly lowers it over time.

The science clearly tells us where to put the lid, what the maximum amount of allowable emissions should be. Science describes this point in many different ways, but the easiest formulation is this:

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% every year.

Otherwise, like a volcano, the climate will erupt in unpredictable fury.

A favorite accusation used by all kinds of other extremists against quite rational people who dare to care for Mother Nature. If your concern for the environment goes much beyond littering, you’ll be in extremist territory, even though dumping toxins into rivers and oceans or pumping emissions into the air is littering on a deranged scale -- to anyone who knows how to think. The accusation is often coupled with populist predictions of economic doom.

Ethiopia usually doesn't figure into discussions about global warming. But Prime Minister Meles Zenawi made an impression at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative in New York, where he provided the following well-received comments:

The only realistic option for Africa is to grow in a carbon neutral fashion. Many people when they discuss global warming and climate change, they are doing it from the point of view of those who are responsible for 80% of the pollution. But there is an African perspective.

Read More

All you need to know about Exxon and global warming is contained in a report compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists called "Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco's Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty about Climate Science."

Click here to see it with your own eyes.

Most commonly, somebody who is bound by fiduciary duty must do this: act in the best interests of shareholders.

Sounds simple and harmless enough. Problem is, fiduciary duty trumps just about every other duty, including those toward other men and women. If you give it some thought, it seems that fiduciary duty has even come to trump every single one of the Ten Commandments. As long as you are making as much money as possible, as fast as possible, anything goes. Especially if you have good lawyers.

Long before treehuggers roamed the Earth, the greenhouse effect was scientifically investigated and confirmed.

First discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1829, the greenhouse effect works by reducing the amount of heat the planet loses to the cold of outer space. It's a good thing. It is what makes life on Earth possible. Without it, the surface of the planet would be as much as 30 degrees centigrade -- or more than 80 degrees fahrenheit -- colder.

The IPCC is the largest and most complex scientific collaboration in the history of the world. Now that it's sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, there's a good chance that America will finally put away the false debate about about climate science that has been manufactured by ideologues who mean the earth no good. Six years of deliberate assault upon the integrity of science by current occupants of the White House has also contributed mightily to the success of the campaign of denial.

The Medieval Warm Period is closer to being a Monty Python skit than actual historical fact. It is a fiction embellished by global warming deniers to throw doubt on modern science. Their underlying message is this: don't worry folks, now we're just in a Modern Warm Period.

There are many layers to the story of ozone.

The most important one is this. After a hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere was discovered in 1985, many nations of the world promptly ratified an international treaty (The Montreal Protocol) that now, twenty years later, has largely solved the problem. To many, it's a hopeful lesson of what it is possible to achieve around the problem of global warming.

The controversial bestseller by Naomi Klein called The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism has succeeded in adding new perspective to the challenge we face in ushering in a new energy economy. Klein asked filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, who made Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men for a blurb for her book jacket. He did better.

James Hansen has pointed out:

Usufruct is as American as the Declaration of Independence, implicit in the Preamble “…to ourselves and our Posterity…”.

It is explicitly discussed in a famous letter of 6 September 1789 from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, discussing the proposed Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution:

Read More

The story of the planet Venus provides a cautionary tale, as told by Al Gore.

Earth and Venus are neighbors in the solar system. They are both exactly the same size. Both have almost exactly the same amount of carbon. But ours is in the ground, and on Venus it's in the atmosphere.

The difference is, the temperature here is 15 degrees Celsius -- 59 degrees fahrenheit -- and on Venus, it's 455 degrees Celsius -- or 800-something degrees fahrenheit.

Read More