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To: Frank Pembleton who wrote (92931)	8/1/2001 12:45:54 AM
From: Sharp_End_Of_Drill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Frank & Art, in my opinion the whole discussion re Kyoto is missing the point. We humans as a race know we are screwing up the planet, and think we should do something to stop - so the politicians get involved and what happens? They unwittingly pick the approach that will do the most financial damage and least benefit. Why? because doing the right thing is too hard. The problems of today are not carbon dioxide in the air. The planet has an immense and incredibly effective means of removing that called plant life. Just like in a greenhouse if you jack up the CO2 the plants grow a little faster and consume it, always in equilibrium. For humans to think we can bugger that equilibrium is IMO the height of arrogance. Climactic studies have shown that rather sudden and violent climate changes are a fact of life here, unpredictable (to date) and totally beyond our control. The studies out there are based on weak science, and as Frank says, and I'll second, complex models can be made to predict anything the modeler wants. The more complex the more malleable to your desired end results. The real problem with our air and water emissions is primarily heavy metals, most from coal burning. Sulfer, NOx, and just about any halogenated organic material are bad actors too. You can't eat fish from the great lakes more than once a week, not at all if you're pregnant - and now the same thing is turning up in ocean fishes like swordfish. Mercury, lead, arsenic, etc. Mostly from burning coal, but the proliferation of heavy chemical industries to the 3rd world, and the reliance on halogens to make cool things isn't helping either. Those areas are where the real problems are, not good old harmless CO2. The problem is it's damn hard to do anything at all about them - so we distract the uneducated masses with pointless efforts and go on about our business of economic growth. Gotta have that energy & plastic. Sharp