Al Gore‘s An Inconvenient Truth:
A Skeptical Tour
By Marlo Lewis
Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute
1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1250
Washington, DC 20036
202-331-1010
mlewis@cei.org
―By far the most terrifying movie you will ever see.‖
―The whole aim of
practical politics is to
keep the populace
alarmed, and hence
clamorous to be led to
safety, by menacing it
with an endless series
of hobgoblins, all of
them imaginary.‖ –
H.L. Mencken
What An Inconvenient Truth (AIT)
is…and is not
• An Inconvenient Truth (AIT) purports to be a
non-partisan, non-ideological presentation of
climate science and moral common-sense—a
meditation on ―what matters.‖
• In reality, AIT is a colorfully illustrated lawyer‘s
brief for climate alarmism and energy rationing.
• The only facts and studies considered are those
convenient to Gore‘s scare-them-green agenda,
and he often distorts the evidence he cites.
• This Power Point presents a few highlights from
my Skeptic’s Guide to An Inconvenient Truth,
available at CEI.org.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): a ―pollutant‖?
• AIT never mentions that CO2 is
• AIT introduces CO2 with a plant food, an aerial fertilizer.
picture like this. The black • Rising CO2 levels help trees, crops,
stuff is steam, not smoke, and green things generally grow
and CO2 is as invisible as faster and larger, produce more
oxygen. fruit, use water more efficiently, and
resist pollution stress.
• Experimental data indicate that the
100-ppm increase in CO2 levels
since pre-industrial times has
increased average yields by 60%
for wheat, 33% for fruits and
melons, and 51% for vegetables.
An extraordinary positive
externality, courtesy of the
Industrial Revolution!
Source: Idso et al. (2003)
Kilimanjaro: a victim of global warming?
• AIT ―blames‖ CO2-induced
warming for the disappearing
Snows of Kilimanjaro.
• But snows have been
disappearing since 1880 due
to a sudden shift from moist to
dry conditions. There was ―no
evidence of a sudden change
in temperature at the end of
the 19th century.‖
• 20th century temperature
records ―do not exhibit a
uniform warming signal.‖
Source: Molg et al. (2003)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro have been disappearing since
1880—decades before mankind could have had much
impact on global climate
• More snow disappeared
before Hemmingway
published his famous novel
(1936) than after.
Source: Kaser et al. (2004)
• In 1880, CO2 levels were
approximately 290 parts per
million, only slightly above pre-
industrial levels (280 ppm).
Source: Etheridge et al. (1998)
Even in recent decades there has been virtually no
warming at the Kilimanjaro summit
• ―Rather than changes
in 20th century
climate being
responsible for their
demise, glaciers on
Kilimanjaro appear to
be remnants of a
past climate that was
once able to sustain
them.‖
Source: Cullen et al.
(2006)
Satellite measurements of the
Kilimanjaro summit show a
trend of +0.01 C/decade since
1978, essentially zero.
―Within the next half-century…40% of the world‘s people may well face
a very serious drinking water shortage…‖(AIT, p. 58)
• The water that feeds
Asia‘s seven major river
systems comes from
melting snow, not
melting glacial ice.
• Data going back four
decades show no trend
in Eurasian snow cover
for the months of
November, December,
January, February, and
March.
Figure based on Rutgers • China‘s snow cover increased
University Global Snow 2.3% annually during 1951-
Lab 1997.
Source: Dahe et al. (2006)
―…as Dr. [Lonnie] Thompson‘s thermometer [analysis of the ratio of oxygen-16
to oxygen-18 in ice cores] shows, the vaunted Medieval Warm Period
[MWP]...was tiny compared to the enormous increase in temperatures of the
last half-century‖ (AIT, p. 64)
• Thompson analyzed the
isotopic oxygen ratios in
three Andean and three
Tibetan ice cores. Data
from four of the six cores
indicate the MWP was as
warm as or warmer than
the late 20th century.
• The graph illustrates data
from the Quelccaya ice
core.
Source: CO2Science.Org,
analysis of Thompson et
al. (2003)
―It‘s a complicated relationship, but the most important part of it is this: When
there is more CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature increases because
more heat from the Sun is strapped inside.‖ (AIT, p. 67)
• Ironically, Gore‘s 650,000-year
AIT implies that changes in CO2 levels graph shows that each of the
were the key driver of climate change previous four interglacial
over the past 650,000 years. In reality, periods was warmer than the
temperature changes preceded CO2 present, even though CO2
level changes by hundreds to levels were lower.
thousands of years. • Example: During the peak of
Source: Fischer et al. (1999) the last interglacial (~130,000-
127,000 years ago), summer
surface temperatures in Arctic
Canada and Greenland were
4-5°C warmer than the
present, and large portions of
Siberia were 4-8°C warmer.
Source: Otto-Bliesner et al. (2006)
―And in recent years the rate of increase has been increasing. In fact, if
you look at the 21 hottest years measured, 20 of the 21 have occurred
within the last 25 years.‖ (AIT, p. 72)
• There has been no increase in
the rate of warming since the
mid-1970s, when the second
20th century warming period
began.
• For the past 30 years, the
planet has warmed at a
remarkably constant rate of
0.17°C (or 0.31°F) per decade.
Source: World Climate Report.
• Most models predict a constant
warming rate. We can
reasonably expect ~1.7°C of
warming in the 21st century.
―We have already begun to see the kind of heat waves that scientists say will
become much more common if global warming is not addressed. In the
summer of 2003 Europe was hit by a massive heat wave that killed 35,000
people.‖ (AIT, p. 75)
• The European heat wave of
2003 was due to an • In the U.S., where air
atmospheric pressure anomaly, conditioning is prevalent,
not global warming: heat-related mortality has
―This extreme weather was declined as urban
caused by an anti-cyclone temperatures have risen,
firmly anchored over the
western European land whether from global
mass holding back the rain- warming, expanding heat
bearing depressions that islands, or both.
usually enter the continent
from the Atlantic Ocean... it Source: Davis et al. (2003)
conveyed very hot dry air
from south of the
Mediterranean.‖
Source: United Nations
Environment Program
―There is now a strong, new consensus emerging that
global warming is indeed linked to a significant increase in
both the duration and intensity of hurricanes.‖ (AIT, p. 81)
• The jury is still out.
• Graphs at right show
Accumulated Cyclone Energy
index values for six ocean
basins. ACE is a measure of a
storm‘s energy over its lifetime.
• Average ACE has increased in
the North Atlantic, decreased
in the Northeast Pacific, and
changed little else.
Source: Klotzbach (2006)
―The emerging consensus linking global warming to the increasingly
destructive power of hurricanes has been based in part on research
showing a significant increase in the number of category 4 and 5
hurricanes.‖ (AIT, p. 89)
• Gore refers to Webster et al. (2005), who found a
significant increase in the number of major hurricanes
during 1970-2004.
• Pat Michaels found that, in the Atlantic basin, Webster‘s
trend disappears once data going back to 1940 are
included. See graphs below.
Scientists‘ ―Statement on the Hurricane
Problem‖
• Ten hurricane scientists including Kerry
Emanuel and Peter Webster issued this
statement, available at
http://wind.mit.edu/~emanuel/Hurricane_threat.h
tm. Key points:
– Don‘t let debate over the ―possible‖ influence of global
warming on hurricanes distract us from the ―main‖
problem: subsidized development in high risk areas.
– Policymakers should reform building practices, land
use policies, and insurance and disaster relief policies
that promote ―lemming like‖ behavior.
• This science-based perspective is absent from
AIT.
―Textbooks had to be re-written in 2004. They used to say, ‗It‘s impossible to
have hurricanes in the South Atlantic.‘ But that year, for the first time ever, a
hurricane hit Brazil.‖ (AIT, p. 84)
• AIT implies that rising sea
surface temperatures (SSTs)
due to global warming caused
Catarina.
• In fact, in 2004, SSTs were
cooler than normal during
Brazil‘s summer months (Jan.-
Feb.).
• However, air temperatures were Hurricane Caterina hits Brazil
―the coldest in 25 years.‖ Source: UCAR Quarterly, Summer
2005
• The air was so much colder than
the water that it caused the same Did global warming make the
kind of heat flux from the water water cooler than normal and the
to the air that fuels hurricanes in air even colder?
warm seas.
―Also in 2004, the all-time record for tornadoes in the
United States was broken.‖ (AIT, p. 87)
• Tornado frequency has
not increased; rather, the
detection of smaller
tornadoes has increased.
• If we consider the
tornadoes that have been
detectable for many
decades (i.e. F-3 or
greater), there is actually
a slight downward trend
since 1950.
Source: National Climate
Data Center
―Over the last three decades, insurance companies have
seen a 15-fold increase in the amount of money paid to
victims of extreme weather.‖ (AIT, p. 101)
• AIT presents a graph similar to
the one at right.
• These losses are not adjusted
for increases in population,
wealth, and the consumer price
index.
• Once losses are adjusted, there
is no evidence of an increase in
the severity or frequency of
extreme weather. Source: Kunkel
et al. (1999)
• AIT neglects to mention that
aggregate weather-related
mortality and mortality rates have
declined dramatically over the
past eight decades. Source:
Glokany (2006)
―In July 2005, Mumbai [Bombay], India, received 37 inches
of rain in 24 hours—the largest downpour any Indian city
has received in one day.‖ (AIT, p. 110)
• It is scientifically
illegitimate to link any
particular rainfall event to
a gradual increase in
global CO2 levels.
• If global warming were
affecting rainfall in
Mumbai, we would expect
to see it in long-term
precipitation records.
• Data from two Mumbai
weather stations show no
trend in July rainfall over
the past 45 years.
AIT blames global for the disappearance of Lake Chad.
(AIT, p. 117)
• Causes of Lake Chad‘s
disappearance include a change
from a wet to dry climate starting
in the late 1960s [i.e., during a
period of global cooling],
increased consumption of lake
water to compensate for the drier
climate, and the predictable
tragedy of the commons as local
users raced to consume a
diminishing resource.
Source: Hillary Mayell, ―Shrinking
African Lake Offers Lesson on
Finite Resources,‖ National
Geographic News, April 26, 2001.
―Temperatures are shooting upward [in the Arctic] faster
than at any other place on the planet.‖ (AIT, p. 126)
• This is what we would expect
whether global warming is due to
rising CO2 emissions or natural
variability.
• Polar ice is white and reflects
incoming short-wave radiation from
the sun; sea water is dark and
absorbs it.
• When sea ice melts, the Arctic
ocean absorbs more radiant energy,
amplifying the initial warming.
• Conversely, cooling expands sea
ice, producing more cooling. Arctic
climate swings!
Arctic climate is naturally variable
• The Arctic was as warm as or • Greenland was warmer in
warmer in the late 1930s than the 1930s-1940s. Source:
it was at the end of the 20th Chylek (2006)
century. Source: Polyakov
(2003)
―A new scientific study shows that, for the first time, polar
bears have been drowning in significant numbers.‖ (AIT, p.
146)
• ―Have been drowning‖
suggests an ongoing
problem. ―Significant
numbers‖ suggests lots of
dead bears.
• Actually, the study reports
that four polar bears were
seen floating offshore in
Sep. 04, apparently
drowned after ―an abrupt
windstorm.‖
Source: Monnett et al.
(2005)
―Some scientists are now seriously worried about the
possibility of this phenomenon [a shut down of the Atlantic
Thermohaline Circulation] recurring.‖ (AIT, p. 149)
• AIT refers to a cooling event
that took place 8,200 years
ago after an ice dam in North
America broke, allowing lakes
Agassiz and Ojibway to drain
swiftly through the Hudson
Strait to the Labrador Sea.
• However, that event injected
more than 100,000 km3 of
fresh water into the ocean, • Is the THC slowing
compared to about 240 km3/yr down? Bryden et al.
from Greenland ice melt. (2005) say yes; Meinen et
Sources: Barber et al. (1999); al. (2006) and Schott et
Rignot and Kanagaratnam.
(2006) al. (2006) say no.
―Global warming is disrupting millions of delicately
balanced ecological relationships among species in just
this way.‖ (AIT, p. 153)
• AIT cites a study showing that, • Robins today are thriving in
in the Netherlands, the height areas of Alaska and Canada
of caterpillar season now
arrives two weeks earlier than where no robins were seen
it did 25 years ago, making it only a few decades ago.
harder for migratory birds to Global warming is for the birds!
find food for their chicks.
• ―As a result,‖ says Gore, ―the
chicks are in trouble.‖
• But, the study says: ―The gap
between the schedules of the
caterpillars and the birds has
had no demonstrable effect so
far on [bird] numbers.‖
Source: D. Grossman, ―Spring
Forward,” Scientific American,
January 2004.
AIT predicts doom for coral reefs from CO2-induced
warming and acidification (AIT, pp.166-69)
• Today‘s main reef builders emerged in the Mesozoic Period: CO2
levels and global temperatures were much higher. Graphic source:
http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.
html
―In the Baltic Sea…many resorts had to be closed in the
summer of 2005 as a result of [toxic] algae [blooms].‖ (AIT,
p. 170)
• AIT presents three photos like this
one. Yuck!
• An international expert panel
convened by Sweden‘s EPA
concluded the blooms were due to
record high levels of phosphorus
(which Cyanobacteria eat), and a
record low nitrogen to phosphorus
ratio (giving Cyanobacteria, which
process nitrogen directly from the
air, a competitive edge over other Source: Eutrophication
plankton). of the Swedish Seas
―In Kenya…I heard growing concerns about the increased threat from
mosquitoes and the diseases they can transmit in higher altitudes that
were formerly too cold for them to inhabit.‖ (AIT, p. 141)
• Malaria outbreaks were
common in such northerly
climes as Minnesota, Canada,
Britain, Scandinavia, and
Russia during the 19th
century, when the world was
colder.
Source: Reiter, P. 2001.
• Malaria resurgence is primary
due to decreased spraying of
homes with DDT, anti-malarial
drug resistance, and the
breakdown of public health
programs, not to any
ascertainable changes in
climate. Outpatient treatments for Malaria
Sources: Roberts et al. 1997. at two Nairobi medical facilities
Hay, et al. 2002. during the 1920s and 1930s
Source: WHO
―Some 30 so-called new diseases have emerged over the
last 30 years. And some old diseases that had been under
control are now surging again.‖ (AIT, p. 174)
• AIT does not cite any evidence or study linking
those diseases to climate change.
• Correlation is not causation. Keyboard use has
also increased during the past 30 years.
―Each [green] splotch [identified by year] represents an ice
shelf the size of Rhode Island or larger that has broken up
since … [1978].‖ (AIT, pp. 181-182)
• ―Size of Rhode Island‖ sounds very
big; hence very scary.
• Rhode Island is the smallest state.
• Since 1978, the Antarctic Peninsula
lost ice shelves totaling 4,825 square
miles. Source: Eurekalert, ―Collapse of
Antarctic Ice Shelf Unprecedented,‖ 3
August 2005.
• For perspective, that is 1/55th the area
of Texas.
• Larson-B was about 1/220th the size of
Texas and 1/246th the size of the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet.
―Two new studies in 2006 showed overall volumes of ice in
Antarctica appear to be declining…‖(AIT, p. 190)
• Gore alludes to Velicogna
and Wahr (Mar. 2006).
• The study shows that
volume is declining only
in the smaller West
Antarctic Ice Sheet. See
graphic.
• A more recent study,
Wingham et al. (2006), Velicogna and Wahr (2006). Ice
finds an overall increase mass variations over the West
in Antarctic ice mass Antarctic Ice Sheet (red) and the
during 1993-2003. East Antarctic Ice Sheet (green).
―If [the West Antarctic Ice Sheet—WAIS] melted or slipped off its
moorings into the sea, it would raise sea levels worldwide by 20 feet…
scientists have documented significant and alarming structural changes
on the underside of the ice shelf.‖ (AIT, p. 190)
• AIT provides no information allowing
us to assess whether the ―structural
changes‖ are ―significant and
alarming.‖
• Probably refers to NASA research
showing that water at mid-depth—
the warmest layer in polar oceans—
is melting the ice sheet‘s submarine
base.
• The study says global warming will
increase mid-layer water Source: Bindschadler. 2006.
temperature only a ―fraction of a
degree.‖ • Implication: This process
• However, pressure at the glacier‘s would occur with or without
submarine base lowers the melting global warming, and cannot be
point of the ice, ―increasing the stopped!
melting efficiency of the warmer
water. Rapid melting results.‖
How long until the WAIS vanishes beneath
the waves?
• ―Most recession [of the WAIS]
occurred in the middle to late
Holocene in the absence of
substantial sea level or climate
forcing.‖
• At the rate observed in the
1990s, ―complete deglaciation
will take about 7,000 years.‖
Source: Conway et al. 1999.
Graphic: Holocene grounding line
recession in the Ross Sea
Embayment.
Greenland and Sea Level Rise
Areas of summer ice melt. Looks downright
scary, doesn‘t it? (AIT, p. 195)
―When the [melt-]water reaches the bottom of the ice, it lubricates the
surface of the bedrock and destabilizes the ice mass, raising fears that
the ice mass will slide more quickly toward the ocean.‖ (AIT, p. 192)
• ―Penetration of surface meltwater to the glacial bed in Greenland can lead
to seasonal flow acceleration, but the annually averaged increase in speed
is only a few percent.‖
Source: Bindschadler. (2006)
• Example: Glacial flow in 1998 increased from 31.3 cm/day in winter to
40.1cm/day in July, falling back to 29.8 cm/day in August, adding a total
displacement of 4.7 m. Apocalypse not!
Source: Zwally et al. (2002)
Moulins: nothing new under the sun
• The Greenland summer was warmer during the 1930s-1940s. There
were probably more vertical water tunnels (―moulins‖), greater
glacier acceleration, and more rapid ice loss. Apocalypse not!
Source: Chylek et al. (2006)
―If Greenland melted or broke up and slipped into the sea—or if half of
Greenland and half of Antarctica melted or broke up and slipped into the sea,
sea levels worldwide would increase by between 18 and 20 feet.‖ (AIT, p. 196)
• ―The Greenland ice sheet cannot slip into the sea, since
it is resting in a bowl-shaped depression produced by its
own weight, surrounded by mountains which permit only
limited glacier outflow to the sea.‖
Source: Wm. Robert Johnston, ―Falsehoods in Gore‘s An Inconvenient
Truth,‖ 11 August 2006.
• To melt half the Greenland ice sheet and raise sea level
by 3 meters, would require additional ―sustained‖ warmth
of 5.5°C ―over a thousand years.‖
Source: IPCC, Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, p. 678.
How alarming is the current ice loss rate in
Greenland?
• Greenland‘s glaciers are thickening in
the interior and thickening at the
edges.
Velicogna and Wahr (Sep. 2006)
estimate:
• Greenland lost ~248 km3/yr of ice
during 2002-2006, contributing ~0.5
mm/yr of sea-level rise per year—less
than 2 inches per century.
Luthcke et al. (Oct. 2006) estimate:
• Greenland lost ~ 101 Gt/yr of ice
during 2003-2005, contributing ~0.28
mm/yr of sea level rise—a little more
than 1 inch per century.
Apocalypse Not!
How alarming is the overall ice loss rate?
• Satellite measurements of ice mass changes in
Greenland, East Antarctica, and West Antarctica
during 1992-2002 show a combined ice-loss-
sea-level-rise-equivalent rate of 0.05 mm per
year.
Source: Zwally et al. (2005)
• At that rate, ―it would take a full millennium to
raise global sea level by just 5 cm, and take fully
20,000 years to raise it a single meter.‖
Source: CO2Science.Org
―The United States is responsible for more greenhouse gas pollution
than South America, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, Japan, and
Asia—all put together.‖ (AIT, pp. 250-251)
The U.S., with less than 5% of global population,
produces 28.3%* of global GDP, including:
• Agricultural products and research (we feed people)
• Medical advances on every front (we fix people)
• Consumer products (we fulfill people)
• Global investment (we fund people)
• Defense of democracy (we free people)
Without our CO2 emissions, the world would be poorer,
sicker, and less free.
*2004 World total = $ 41.2B
U.S. total = $ 11.7B
World Development Indicators, World Bank
―Of the three quarters [of the 928 abstracts examined by UCSD Prof.
Naomi Oreskes] that did address these main points, the percentage
that disagreed with the consensus? Zero.‖ (AIT, p. 262)
• None of the abstracts Oreskes examined disputed the
IPCC‘s conclusion that, ―Most of the observed warming
over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the
increase in greenhouse gas concentrations.‖
• Gore inflates the ―consensus‖ to include the belief that
global warming‘s ―consequences are so dangerous as to
warrant immediate action.‖
• See CO2Science.Org and World Climate Report for
numerous studies that indicate a significant role of
natural variability in recent climate change, indicate
warmer than present conditions in earlier periods of the
Holocene, challenge alarmist views of global warming
impacts, and provide data inconsistent with alarmist
forecasts.
―On June 21, 2004, 48 Nobel Prize-winning scientists accused
President Bush and his administration of distorting science.‖ Gore
quotes them as criticizing Bush for ―ignoring the scientific consensus on
critical issues such as global climate change.‖ (AIT, pp. 269-270)
• AIT forgot to mention that the scientists in question are members of
―Scientists and Engineers for Change,‖ a 527 group set up to
promote the Kerry for President Campaign.
• The June 21, 2004 letter from which Gore quotes was first and
foremost an endorsement of John Kerry for President.
• Their leading complaint: Bush‘s budget reduces funding for scientific
research. In fact, general science/basic research funding increased
from $6.5 billion in FY01 (Clinton‘s last year) to an estimated $9.2
billion in FY06--a 28.5% increase.
• The signatories are upset because they want MORE!
• That these partisan whiners are also Nobel-laureates shows how
politicized science has become.
―The European Union has adopted this U.S. innovation [emissions
trading] and is making it work effectively there.‖ (AIT, p. 252)
• 1997-2004: EU CO2 Emissions Growth Since Kyoto
emissions increased 8%;
Percent Increase CO2
U.S., 6.6%. 10
• 2000-2004: EU CO2 8
6
emissions increased 5.8%;
4
U.S., 1.7%. 2
• Rampant rent seeking: ―If the 0
current national [emission 1997-2004 2000-2004
credit] allocation plans are EU Emissions U.S. Emissions
allowed to stand, it could
seriously undermine the
credibility of the EU ETS Chart derived from
[emissions trading system]…‖ http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/ielf/
– Michael Grubb, Chief tableh1co2.xls, July 2006
Economist, Carbon Trust
Despite high gas taxes (and prices), EU transport-
sector CO2 emissions are growing rapidly
• ―EU-15 greenhouse gas
emissions from transport
increased by nearly 24% [from
1990 to 2003] and are
projected to increase further to
31% above 1990 levels by
2010 using only existing
policies and measures.‖
Sources: IEA, End-User Petroleum
Product Prices, Sep. 2006; EEA,
Greenhouse gas emissions trends
and projections 2005, p. 31.
―Ironically, we cannot sell cars made in America to China because we
don‘t meet their environmental standards.‖ (AIT, p. 272)
• U.S. fuel economy standards specify a fleet average
mpg. Many U.S. cars exceed the average, and many
meet China‘s new standards.
• 100% of Ford‘s 2003 sales already meet China‘s Phase I
(2005/2006) standards, and 72% of its 2003 sales meet
the Phase II (2008) standards. 42% of GM‘s 2003 sales
meet Phase I standards and 32% meet the Phase II
standards.
Source: World Resources Institute, Taking the High (Fuel Economy)
Road: What do the new Chinese Fuel Economy Standards Mean for
Foreign Automakers, November 2004
―It‘s the companies building more efficient cars that are
doing well.‖ (AIT, p. 273)
• AIT confuses fuel economy
(miles per gallon) with fuel
efficiency (amount of work
per unit of fuel).
• Today‘s vehicles are much
more efficient than earlier
models.
• Efficiency gains mostly went
into increasing vehicle
acceleration, towing capacity,
size, and weight rather than
fuel economy.
Source: Nicholas Lutsey and Daniel
Sperling (2005)
AIT claims we could reduce CO2 to 1970 levels by 2054 with
―affordable‖ technologies. (AIT, p. 280)
• The study AIT cites, Pacala and Socolow (2004),
explicitly declines to estimate the costs of its proposals.
• Many proposed options are unrealistic. Example:
Decrease Vehicle Miles Traveled by half. How? U.S.
population will be much larger by 2054. Example:
Replace 1,400 coal plants with gas-fired plants. America
already faces a natural gas supply crunch. Example:
Expand bio-fuel plantations to 1/6th of world crop land.
What would that do to food prices and wildlife habitat?
• AIT neglects to mention that Pacala and Socolow is a
response to Hoffert et al. (2002). Key finding of that
study:
―CO2 is a combustion product vital to how civilization is powered;
it cannot regulated away.‖
AIT never addresses the obvious criticism of the Kyoto Protocol and
other regulatory climate policies.
% CO2 Reductions 1990-2003
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Former Communist Countries
• Kyoto would not discernibly reduce global warming but would cost
tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in higher energy prices, lost
jobs, and reduced GDP. All pain for no gain.
• The only proven ―method‖ for making deep emission cuts is that of
the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: economic collapse.
• Policies tough enough to measurably affect climate would likely be a
cure worse than the alleged disease.
Is energy suppression moral?
• But demand for fossil
energy is growing,
especially in developing
countries.
• Limiting their access to
fossil energy would doom
millions to perpetual
poverty.
• Kenya‘s ―energy system‖
characterizes much of
the world (see next
slide).
• An energy diet for an
energy starved world is
not moral!
Kenya’s Energy
System
Energy Source
Energy Transmission
Energy Use