UNsettled

Notes of Concern….
….Jack Blair


Unsettled

There has been a lot of news lately about meetings in Copenhagen to try to find ways to make all of us who live in this world less greedy about, and less abusive to, “Mother Nature”.

Although Al Gore did not really invent the Internet he may be credited with sounding the alarm about “Global Warming”. Lots of folks worried about everything associated with the environment headed over to Copenhagen recently to discuss it.

If you have a few extra minutes you might check on- line and you will find that Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities to visit. I actually cancelled a planned Christmas trip to Copenhagen when I saw how much more expensive it is than other major cities in the world.

In any event, the decision makers went over there, reportedly, in over 140 private jet airplanes and utilized 70 limousines to get around. For my money, that disqualifies the whole bunch from giving me an education on what we need to do to protect our planet.

Putting aside my own feeling that the Copenhagen conference could have been better located and better organized, let us get to the matter of global warming.

At the outset, let me say that I have absolutely no idea whether I should be scared to death about our future due to the warming of the planet or whether I should be laughing all day over the “hot topic’ issues that get presented to us every year.

Because I felt uneducated about the subject, I have spent a lot of time trying to read all that I can find. I am now about to share with you the results of all my study.

I still do not know where the truth might be found.

Here is what I do know for certain. The world has gone through warming and chilling cycles, since the beginning of recorded time. I refer you to the Ice Age for example.

Another thing I learned from my study is that honorable, educated, experienced scientists and futurists disagree on the subject. Some see catastrophe around the next bend. Others think this is “much ado about nothing”.

Still others wish we put this much concern and effort into feeding the starving and discovering cures for disease.

Add to this the fact that there is recent evidence that scientists who proclaimed a global warming crisis were not only talking about the “cooking” globe but “cooking” the books! There have been admissions at high levels that statistics were modified to fit desired results.

In the legal profession, from law school students to the Supreme Court, there is a great phrase. That phrase is “settled law.”

That phrase is used when questions arise to point out that an issue had previously been raised , made its way through the courts, arrived at the Supreme Court, and was decided.

Once decided, it became the “settled law” of the land. That was the end of it.

My friends, there is nothing “settled” about global warming.

It is still making its way through the “lower courts” of world opinion. One day, hopefully, there will be “settled law” on the subject. And we will then accept the decision and act on it.

In the meantime, it is important for us to keep an open mind and to hear all the voices. That is a requirement of good citizenship.