SINCE the time of Galileo, mathematics was always an exact science so that one plus one is always two even during the time of the Pharaohs when the ancient Egyptians made their calculation to construct the pyramids. But not so with the most controversial subject of our time: Climate Change.

In less than six years that Climate Change came into our lives, many scientific theories on the subject were changed, revised or debunked. Just recently Al Gore, the false prophet and guru of global warming (which he has now conveniently changed to climate change because he has realized that the earth is undergoing a period of cooling and NOT warming), have recently engaged a team of scientists from the NASA’s Goddard Institute. Their task is to answer the basic question on how much the various green-house gases (GHG) EACH contribute to global warming.

Based on the state-of-the art computer calculations, their findings are: 1. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – 43% ONLY 2. Methane (CH3) – 27% 3. Black Carbon – 12% 4. Halocarbon – 8% and 5. Carbon Monoxide and Volatile Organics – 7%.

The local blind followers of Al Gore such as RISE has been campaigning for reduction of CO2 emissions only as a solution to global warming to the point of a futile attempt to stop the construction of a coal-fired power plant that will solve the power crisis of Iloilo. Reducing CO2 emissions strikes at the lifeblood of the global economy – fossil fuels which provide 86.5% of the world’s fuel. Targeting the other green-house gases especially methane and black carbon is likely to be more cost effective than CO2 ONLY strategies. ONLY 3% of CO2 is man-made, the rest is from natural source, such as when plants die, they releases CO2, the ocean also store and release enormous amount of CO2.

CO2 is a ubiquitous, odorless, colorless and benign gas. It is NOT a byproduct or pollutant but an intended result of energy production. The more efficiently one burns a hydrocarbon fuel, the more CO2 one produces. This is one reason why Al Gore who advocates “energy efficiency” as a global warming solution in his celluloid fable (The Inconvenient Truth) hasn’t quite perfected his argument! Don’t you know that without CO2 plants will not grow, this is its basic building block material (carbon) thru photosynthesis and in the process produces oxygen which we fauna then selfishly inhale, only to heartlessly exhale more CO2!

In the case of methane as a GHG, scientists say that every year the average Holstein cow produces up to 180 kgs. of CH3 which traps 25 times more heat than does CO2! According to the U.N., bringing meat from the pasture to the table produces 18% of global GHG emissions and without their bragging it, the Seventh Day Adventists are among the best environmentalists on earth. Other sources of methane to add up to the 27% findings are decaying garbage dumps, trees, vegetation and seeps from swamps, bogs and rice paddies. Black carbon is mainly from sooty emissions of burning wood, dung and diesel, a prevalent practice in 3rd world countries. By the way, without these greenhouse gasses trapping infrared solar radiation (heat) by its protective blanket over the earth, the earth would be uninhabitable, as our atmosphere would be, for all purposes, equivalent to that of planet Mars.

Other previous theories which the so-called environmentalists/activists have revised or changed: Production of corn ethanol as a bio-fuel – not only does it take away portion of the food from the table but it is also responsible for more greenhouse gases than the gasoline it displaces, besides it only produces 5 units of energy for every unit of energy input, while it is 14 to 1 for gasoline. Then there is also the shift of Al Gore from solar photovoltaic cells (PV) to concentrated solar thermal power because alternating current is produced in large quantity. Al Gore is also bullish on energy efficiency, i.e., smart grid, replacing inefficient motors, windows and other energy guzzlers with high efficiency ones which “could” cut U.S. energy consumption by 23% by 2023. BUT if efficiency is so great and saves so much money (without even considering the CO2 aspect) why don’t businesses do it? In this, Al Gore cannot provide a sensible answer!

Least this writer is misunderstood, I am for the MODERATE use of power, food and even recreational activities, for in so doing, we preserve our resources and protect the environment, true to what Charles Dickens have said: “Subdue your appetite, my dears, and you’ve conquered the excesses of human nature”.

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