Slow down
The following letter to the editor appeared in the Lewiston Tribune:
Slow down
I encourage the rejection of the Copenhagen Treaty. Its premise is flawed. It places burdens on the United States, while allowing other industrial countries, like China and India, to remain unrestricted. Even if enacted, the science is inconclusive as to whether this would cease climate change. ... Here's what I am telling Congress:
- Slow down: The rush to label CO2 as a pollutant or pass cap-and-trade legislation will hurt our nation's economic recovery.
- Know the science: There's no scientific evidence that CO2 is a pollutant.
- CO2 has benefits: Higher CO2 concentrations actually help ecosystems support more plant and animal life.
- Other factors involved: As for the greenhouse effect, which warms the earth, CO2 is not even close to being the most important of the greenhouse gases. Most of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor, which is about 30 times as abundant in the atmosphere as CO2 and has a much larger greenhouse effect.
- CO2 is green: More importantly, it has been proven that higher levels of CO2 result in more plant growth as well as less water being required for plants to grow faster and larger.
- CO2 supports life: While CO2 accounts for less than 1 percent of the atmosphere, CO2 is essential to life on earth. In fact, we all exhale CO2 and enjoy it in our carbonated beverages.
- As recently shown by Al Gore's recent statements, even the scientists whom he would quote to support his "agenda," refute his conclusions and application of their data.
David Mendenhall
Moscow