COMMENTARY | "I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that. It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors," said Republican Presidential candidate and former Governor of
Massachusetts Mitt Romney on Friday, according to Reuters. Sounding more like Al Gore than the poster boy for Republican rhetoric which usually sounds something like "Drill, baby. Drill." Romney called for the nation to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, but added, "I love solar and wind (power) but they don't drive cars. And we're not all going to drive Chevy Volts."
On this matter, the Republican candidate and I agree, but the issue of global warming is sort of a nonstarter with me, in that it doesn't really matter what the science says. The truth that cannot be overlooked is that earth is, regardless of whether or not we contribute to its demise with pollution or simply the stripping of manufacturing materials, a finite resource.
Regardless of whether or not we are harming the earth by our lifestyle, the overall point is that we must, where possible, take steps to be the best stewards we can be of the resources we are given. There are valid arguments to be made on both sides of the environmental lobby. There are, for example, because of the environmental lobby, more trees today than there were 25 years ago, despite our continued use of paper. According to Penn and Teller we now grow trees on farms, specifically for the purpose of paper production. In truth, it takes more energy to recycle paper than to simply make new paper.
