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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (7431)	3/7/2006 5:34:48 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 12247

<But taxing oil would be politically a very difficult thing to accomplish.> What about cutting other taxes by twice the amount that the imported hydrocarbons are taxed? That should be politically popular? There would be fewer traffic jams, lower taxes, less pollution. And the tax changes could be done gradually over 5 years so there would be no "chaos". Look at the change in fuel prices over the last 4 years and there was no chaos. The taxes could be brought in any time fuel prices drop. Just add tax so that fuel prices remain constant. They are bound to drop over the next few years as OPEC tries to hold market share, so the import taxes could be brought in pain-free and the tax cuts would be a lot of fun for everyone. Mqurice

To: carranza2 who wrote (7431)	4/7/2006 3:19:15 PM
From: John Hayman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12247

Sci/Tech Scientists blame sun for global warming The Sun is more active than it has ever been in the last 300 years Climate changes such as global warming may be due to changes in the sun rather than to the release of greenhouse gases on Earth. Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow. The sun provides all the energy that drives our climate, but it is not the constant star it might seem. Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle. And individual cycles can be more or less active. The sun is currently at its most active for 300 years. That, say scientists in Philadelphia, could be a more significant cause of global warming than the emissions of greenhouse gases that are most often blamed. The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Ancient trees reveal most warm spells are caused by the sun Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity. They have also studied other sun-like stars and found that they spend significant periods without sunspots at all, so perhaps cool spells should be feared more than global warming. The scientists do not pretend they can explain everything, nor do they say that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be abandoned. But they do feel that understanding of our nearest star must be increased if the climate is to be understood.