Global Warming - where is the debate?

I knew about the effects of global warming on the planet since I was in High School, as I am sure many of you as well. Earth warms up, climate changes, life has to adapt.

The controversy is in what is causing the warming. Some people say it's CO2 emissions, while some say it's natural CO2 from the planet example: Volcanoes and humans aren't to blame.

The evidence is confusing because there is lot's of money at stake. Follow the money trail for Exxon Mobil, a huge oil company and you will see what I mean http://www.exxonsecrets.org/ One of the examples is the bio. of Mr. Milloy who publishes junkscience.com website http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=881 and is a key person the for the Free Enterprise Action Institute which is funded exclusively by Exxon http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=114

So why is that important? Junk Science is mostly focused on "debunking the fears" that Global Warming is caused by humans. The site even offers a monetary reward for anyone that can prove it.

So how can a person who gets money from Exxon Mobil be trusted to give the audience an accurate representation of the debate on Global Warming?

I believe the ones who say that human activity is not contributing to the warming of this planet are either protecting their assets or has not looked at all the evidence.

I think their argument is silly - just look here http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/

Now I can agree that there may be some very good points there and one has to be a very educated scientist to evaluate each of these points, however there is an equally impressive amount of research that states that humans are contributing to the earth's accelerated warming trend. So who should we believe?

Confusing huh? It kind of reminds me of the debate of nutrition. There is an organization called the Weston A. Price Foundation which tries to tell us that animal products are good for us and Cholesterol is a myth. They also have lots of research to support their claim. If you look at the money trail, they too are supported by the industry they promote. What they want us to do is equally devastating to our health. Funny how things are related...

My opinion is that we as a society need to worry about living a lifestyle that is not wasteful. I believe in the term carbon footprint, which is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.

However it's not just the co2, but everything like what we throw out each week into the landfills. How much we drive, and how many gallons of fuel we use. How efficient are the homes we live in and cars we drive? It can be better. Why? Because of Respect. Because if we don't our children won't either. And it's a downward spiral for society when we don't respect the earth.

For those of you who think that I am wrong, think about this - How can we not affect the environment when our activity has been so destructive to the earth itself? Very little of the planet in it's natural state is actually left. It's covered with cities and villages, not trees and plants. We produce trash, waste, and co2, chemicals, and pollute the waters. If we continue on this trend, soon there won't be anything natural left. We are killing the planet and we make excuses to make ourselves removed from this fact.

Some excuses are "I can't make a difference, so why try?", "We don't really know if Global Warming is caused by humans", "It's too late to change things, so why try?"

Do you see a pattern? The excuses we make enable us to continue without making any changes in our lives to help the planet. The people claim that humans are not the cause, want us to consume more, spend more, because it effects their bottom line.

Confusion breeds apathy, Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference. Apathy breeds indulgence and affluence, and that's a downwards spiral that will breed a general state of decline.

What I really want is for people to realize that the real issues are not who is right about what causes global warming but how to live in a way that will be more natural and less wasteful.