My Gripe With Global Warming

I’m a guy who’s not sold on the idea of global warming. I believe that the earth’s temperature goes through periods of warming and cooling, but I certainly don’t agree with Al Gore’s comical ‘hockey stick’ portrayal of rising global temperatures from his film. Having said that, I’m perfectly OK with folks who do believe in global warming, even those folks who believe in Gore’s version. People can believe in all kinds of things. Heck, I’m a guy who still believes that the Cleveland Browns will one day win a Super Bowl.

My gripe with global warming, or global climate change if you wish, is that it is a massive and unfortunate misallocation of resources with negligible, if any, positive results. I can make an argument, in fact, that ‘remedial global warming’ steps actually yield harmful results, but that takes me off point and would require a separate entry itself.

Global warming is an issue that receives discussion only in developed countries because in the global hierarchy of needs it is a miniscule issue. Much of the world’s population is simply bogged down with such inconveniences as survival. Food and clean water rank amongst the top priorities for them. It is an inconceivable luxury for much of the world’s population to even concern oneself with the possibility of global warming. And then, on top of that, to allocate resources away from food and clean water to commit them toward the uncertain possibility of global warming is a disgusting waste.

To concern oneself with the issue of carbon emissions and global warming is akin to elective plastic surgery. It merely makes a person feel better about oneself. The problem, to speak more clearly, is that sufficient amounts of food and clean water are two conundrums that could actually be toppled if this same money and attention were not being so massively misallocated to the bottomless pit that is global warming.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a strong advocate for recycling, commendable MPG, not overwatering the lawn, minimizing waste, turning off the lights when not in use, incentivizing privately funded research for alternate energy sources, and reusable shopping bags. But if you want to save humanity, help a human.

-klem