With summer looming, and the nation experiencing its first heatwave of 2008, it certainly isn't surprising our global warming obsessed media have resumed the spread of climate hysteria as reported by my colleague Jeff Poor just a few hours ago.
Yet, given their willingness the past few months to discuss ethanol's connection to higher food prices, is it too much to ask for these same press outlets to offer a little balance by presenting the benefits of rising carbon dioxide levels along with the mythical costs?
Take for example Lawrence Solomon's truly astounding article published at Canada's Financial Post Saturday entitled "In Praise of CO2" (emphasis added throughout):
Planet Earth is on a roll! GPP is way up. NPP is way up. To the surprise of those who have been bearish on the planet, the data shows global production has been steadily climbing to record levels, ones not seen since these measurements began.
GPP is Gross Primary Production, a measure of the daily output of the global biosphere -- the amount of new plant matter on land. NPP is Net Primary Production, an annual tally of the globe's production. Biomass is booming. The planet is the greenest it's been in decades, perhaps in centuries.
Hadn't heard about this? Well, why would you, for the other side of the supposedly horrific greenhouse aspect of increasing carbon dioxide levels is how plants are just loving it:
[O]ver a period of almost two decades, the Earth as a whole became more bountiful by a whopping 6.2%. About 25% of the Earth's vegetated landmass -- almost 110 million square kilometres -- enjoyed significant increases and only 7% showed significant declines. When the satellite data zooms in, it finds that each square metre of land, on average, now produces almost 500 grams of greenery per year.
Why the increase? Their 2004 study, and other more recent ones, point to the warming of the planet and the presence of CO2, a gas indispensable to plant life. CO2 is nature's fertilizer, bathing the biota with its life-giving nutrients. Plants take the carbon from CO2 to bulk themselves up -- carbon is the building block of life -- and release the oxygen, which along with the plants, then sustain animal life. As summarized in a report last month, released along with a petition signed by 32,000 U. S. scientists who vouched for the benefits of CO2: "Higher CO2 enables plants to grow faster and larger and to live in drier climates. Plants provide food for animals, which are thereby also enhanced. The extent and diversity of plant and animal life have both increased substantially during the past half-century."
Interesting wouldn't you agree, and something that real journalists would inform the public of along with the as yet unproven downside of rising CO2 levels...assuming, of course, that real journalists hadn't gone the way of the dodo years ago.
Maybe some more carbon dioxide will bring them back...hmmmmm.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.















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»→ 4th grade biology
June 9, 2008 - 19:54 ET by Cool ArrowWhodathunk our grade school science teachers may have actually been telling us the truth?
Too much of that high-falutin eduction and it's easy to forget trees need food too.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
If trees had fingers..
June 9, 2008 - 19:56 ET by BarrackIf trees had fingers, they'd be giving the middle one to the whack jobs that won't stop hugging them..
"Leave me alone! Let me breathe!"
www.benbarrack.com
Watch a Liberal's head explode..
June 9, 2008 - 19:55 ET by BarrackAll you have to do is put them in a situation where their ideas are actually tried..
Watch the tree huggers turn to corn husk huggers as a result of the ethanol push.
Whack jobs.
www.benbarrack.com
Here's a stiuation where
June 10, 2008 - 10:26 ET by mattmHere's a stiuation where their ideas were tried.
Man is part of nature
June 9, 2008 - 20:00 ET by BarrackMaybe, just maybe, we as humans are doing our part to perpetuate the law of nature. Bees make honey, beavers make dams, man makes gas.
Everyone's happy...........except the self-loathing whack jobs who have relationship issues with their fathers and want to take it out on plant life.
www.benbarrack.com
And crude oil is a product
June 9, 2008 - 20:40 ET by GregEAnd crude oil is a product of the earth.
Yeah but, lefties think oil
June 9, 2008 - 20:44 ET by Clear thinkerYeah but, lefties think oil is evil!!!
Me, I love the stuff.
"Abstain from McCain"
Me too Ct... Drill
June 9, 2008 - 20:55 ET by bigtimerMe too Ct...
Drill Often...Drill Everywhere!
30 plus years too late, but me thinks the pitiful poor excuses for our state reps are going to have to face this soon...30 years too late, but better late than never....along with the rules and regulations on all of this, plus the refineries.
I knew long ago it would take close to five bucks a gallon before people started paying attention to what the real problem was, which they will eventually...all of them, along with the problem we have now with McCain against drilling, part of the main reason we didn't start years ago...now it is hurting the majority of all of the nation.
'Bout time....unfortunately.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
We might be exceeding our
June 9, 2008 - 20:47 ET by balboaWe might be exceeding our "doing our part" allotment.
'Our Part' = 3.4% of the CO2 Emitted Annually
June 9, 2008 - 23:26 ET by PopularTechHumans can only claim responsibility for 3.4% of the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emitted to the atmosphere annually. (Source)
I am not sure how you conclude we are exceeding an imaginary 'threshold'.
Carbon Dioxide Helps Some Plants Survive Cold Weather, Cornell Researchers Find (Science Daily)
Climate Changes Creating Green And Flowering Mountains (Science Daily)
Climate change will boost farm output (The Australian)
Delay In Autumn Color Caused By Increased Carbon Dioxide Not Global Warming (Science Daily)
- Forests Could Benefit When Fall Color Comes Late (Science Daily)
Duke Study Shows Carbon Dioxide Boosts Pine Tree Reproduction (Science Daily)
Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Increases Soil Carbon (Science Daily)
Elevated Carbon Dioxide Changes Soil Microbe Mix Below Plants, May Help Plants Grow (Science Daily)
Greenhouse Gas Might Green Up The Desert (Science Daily)
High Carbon Dioxide Levels Spur Southern Pines To Grow More Needles (Science Daily)
High On Carbon Dioxide, Crops Of Tomorrow May Yield More Grain (Science Daily)
Increasing Carbon Dioxide Relieves Drought Stress In Corn, Researchers Say (Science Daily)
More Carbon Dioxide May Help Some Trees Weather Ice Storms (Science Daily)
New Satellite Study Shows Vegetation Increases In North America (Science Daily)
Open-Air Experiment Shows High CO2 Boosts Tree Growth (Science Daily)
Report: High Carbon Dioxide Boosts Duke Forest Growth By 25 Percent (Science Daily)
Some Plankton Thrive With More CO2 (The New York Times)
Study Shows Forests Thrive With Increased Carbon Dioxide Levels (Science Daily)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Hey Pop,
June 9, 2008 - 23:34 ET by BlondeI read an absolutely disgusting article about recycling today! I was furious.
How bizarre is that? Hmmm..
I'll try to find it for you.
Something along the line of the great liberal state of Minnesota...requiring manufacturers of "electronics" to recycle at least 60% of the "weight" of their new sales. AS IF...like I want to sell you a new monitor...but you must bring your old one to me so I can recycle it".
A riff on "cap and trade".
Apologies, PT. I thought recycling was kind of okay....but not when it is shoved down our throats!
Mea culpa.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
In the county that I live
June 9, 2008 - 23:46 ET by Clear thinkerIn the county that I live in, we were told that recycling all our materials would save the taxpayers $500,000 dollars a year. The very first year the program was put into effect it cost the taxpayers $1,000,000 dollars, and has risen every year since it's inception.
"Abstain from McCain"
"Maybe, just maybe, we as
June 9, 2008 - 20:39 ET by ckc1227"Maybe, just maybe, we as humans are doing our part to perpetuate the
law of nature. Bees make honey, beavers make dams, man makes gas."
Meanwhile, Bill O'reilly just said on his show that congress should mandate that car companies stop making cars that use gas, lol. Apparently he's not a fan of the law of supply and demand. And the two women who were on to discuss the issue were way out of their league. I could have done a better job than they did, and I'm a nobody.
What a tool. That he can be so right about some things yet so wrong on this issue is mind boggling. I wonder if he ever found the guy who sets the global price of oil and gas each day?
I like O'Reilly's style,
June 9, 2008 - 20:41 ET by GregEI like O'Reilly's style, regardless of topic. Now, when it comes to topic, some I like some I don't. He's definitely tool-ish on the oil thing.
O'Reilly
June 9, 2008 - 20:59 ET by BarrackHow about if O'Reilly ditches the memory lane segments with hollywood actors and body language analysis for calling groups like CAIR on the carpet. O'Reilly has gone soft to the point of being derelict. We ARE at war.
www.benbarrack.com
O'Reilly after Sami al-Arian
June 9, 2008 - 20:55 ET by BarrackO'Reilly jumped the shark with Sami al-Arian
www.benbarrack.com
O'Reilly is an idiot on Oil and Gas Prices
June 10, 2008 - 00:23 ET by PopularTechO'Reilly - Oil Crisis (Video)
1. Air Conditioning has NOTHING to do with oil you idiot O'Reilly! We generate electricity mainly with Coal, Natural Gas and Nuclear Power! WHY DOESN'T KEANAN KNOW THIS?
- Only 1.5% of the United States electrical generation comes from oil (EIA)
2. There is NO price gouging (not that it is a bad thing)! O'Reilly is an absolute idiot about how much oil companies make off gas:
- The average amount of net profit an oil company makes on gasoline is 5 cents per gallon (Source)
- Exxon Mobil's total U.S. tax bill exceeded its U.S. revenues by $19 billion over the past five years (Source)
Myth: Price-Gouging Is Bad (John Stossel, ABC News)
3. Not buying gas on a certain day will lower prices is a Myth!
Myth - Participating in a one-day boycott of gasoline will help lower prices (Snopes)
O'Reilly fails to talk about the only solutions to lower the price:
1. Remove or reduce the taxes:
- The average amount of tax on gasoline in the United States is 47.0 cents per gallon (API)
2. Increase Supply as in let them drill everywhere because we have plenty of oil:
- 2 Trillion barrels of oil are in the United States Oil-Shale Reserves (USGS)
- 580 Billion barrels of oil are in Russia's Arctic Ocean Shelf (Source)
- 400 Billion barrels of oil are under the Arctic Ocean (Source)
- 175 Billion barrels of oil are in the Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada (Source)
- 15 Billion barrels of oil are in the Jack field in the Gulf of Mexico (Source)
- 10.6 Billion barrels of oil are in the National Petroleum Reserve (NPRA) in Alaska (USGS)
- 10.4 Billion barrels of oil are in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska (USGS)
- 4.3 Billion barrels of oil are in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana (USGS)
- 4.0 Billion barrels of oil are in the Central North Slope in Alaska (USGS)
- 260 Billion barrels of oil are in Saudi Arabia (EIA)
- 80 Billion barrels of oil are in Venezuela (EIA)
O'Reilly REALLY needs to watch these videos:
Give me a break - Oil Prices (Video) (5min) (John Stossel, 20/20)
Myth: The World Is Running Out of Oil (Video) (5min) (John Stossel, 20/20)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
PT... I sure do not need
June 10, 2008 - 00:39 ET by bigtimerPT...
I sure do not need any links about BOR and his insanity about the US and oil/companies, in fact I was screaming at him tonight....I really tire of him.
Sometimes he nothing but an arrogant arse who thinks he is be know all, be all.
Maddening.
Btw...anybody who doesn't know, look at the links if interested, I didn't meant to take anything away from PT's excellent links....he is right.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
O'reilly and his emotional arguments
June 10, 2008 - 01:09 ET by PopularTechO'reilly jumps on all the emotional arguments lately and has for sometime stopped looking at facts and looking for sensationalism to sell his show. It works with people who do not think but "feel" a certain way.
Fox News just gets more and more disappointing - yet it is all we have for "conservative" news on TV. I rarely watch O'reilly anymore though.
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Same here PT...I just pick
June 10, 2008 - 01:19 ET by bigtimerSame here PT...I just pick certain segments if I have the clicker that is...lol...anyway, I also remember way back him or someone mentioning his wife is working for one of he greenie brigades against the oil companies or such, I think it was mentioned she is a lobbyist or tied to one of the groups/companies...I am too danged lazy to look it up and really don't care to a point, BOR gets on my nerves in a lot of different ways to-boot...
It's called pure arrogance.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson
O'Reilly the economic-illiterate now has his own section
June 10, 2008 - 02:09 ET by PopularTechMaybe someday he will take a basic class in economics, until then...
Bill O'Reilly - Don't Beat Up Big Oil. It's Just Doing Its Job (Ben Stein, The New York Times)
Bill O'Reilly - The Foolish Factor (Cato Institute)
Bill O'Reilly - The O'Reilly Fiction (Human Events)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Bill has his good days and
June 10, 2008 - 04:39 ET by Jack BauerBill has his good days and his bad days, his good points and his bad points. This is one of his really bad oil days.
Every time he gives us his "solution" to high gas prices, it's like being lectured about quantum mechanics by Barney Rubble.
O'Reilly has always been an idiot on Oil
June 10, 2008 - 08:13 ET by PopularTechHe has been doing this for years. If you look at the dates of the articles I linked they are back to 2005. God knows how many economists have tried to explain it to him to no effect.
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
O'Reilly should get his facts straight...
June 10, 2008 - 08:15 ET by PopularTechExxon's Earnings: No Apology Necessary (Cato Institute)
"Exxon Mobil's net income by sales, we discover that the company reported a 10.7% profit margin in the quarter. That's probably a bit above the U.S. industrial average, but it is hardly remarkable.
For instance, the nation's moist prominent critic of "oil profiteering" - Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly — works for a company (News Corp.) that reported a 10.2% profit in the fourth quarter."
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
pt you are on the mark regarding bor
June 10, 2008 - 09:05 ET by larry on LIwhen ever he strays into areas, other than social issues, he is totally clueless. we may be expecting too much from the education major. he even had the gall to take a shot at neil cavutto.
Hadn't heard about
June 9, 2008 - 20:55 ET by dboHadn't heard about this?
Even this stinkin, freakin commie marxist website has more objectivity than the MSM.
http://www.marxist.c...
**warning** Logging on to this site may make you feel kinda dirty.
CO2 benefits ignored for profits & higher taxes
June 9, 2008 - 23:34 ET by wdhorningCO2 benefits can easily outweight its negatives, and in fact save more lives than might be lost.
The liberal press is too stupid to understand this. Its reporters are lower than morons.
But what's new? The liberals are anti-big-business, except when they expect to make big bucks in carbon credit companies (like the one Al Gore is highly invested in) and when they can use it for just another excuse to raise taxes, because they want big government to dicatate how everyone should live. Hollywood is great at it too, wanting the middle-class to live like the poor, just so there will be more left over for their greedy egos, and since they have the ability to pay conscience-easing carbon credits taxes. If enacted, it will be the largest tyranny imposed on humans in recent history.
Also, these liberals are a greater threat to mankind than anything a 1/3 percent increase in CO2 could do, resulting in less then a 1/10 degree of temperature rise out of a normal (naturally caused) range of 10-12 degrees Fahrenheit
Liberals are far greater threat to the world than CO2:
1) they have caused world hunger by resisting artifical fertilizer production; there is only enough natural fertilizer to feed 2/3rds of the planet no matter how hard we all try, so the other 2 billion people are alive only because of artificial fertilizers -- liberals have created shortages of the artificial type with their inteventions. How many of these liberals will volunteer to kill themselves so the other 4 billion can live using only natural fertilizers? Where are the 2 billion volunteers?
2) also, crop damage due to the lack of DDT, caused by a "false alarm" back in the 1960s, has resulted in far less crop production, and far more starvation, than a few deaths caused by infrequent misuse of DDT.
3) also, 10's of millions haved died due to insect-born diseases due to the lack of DDT or a viable substitute due to that same "false alarm," (which only showed, by the way, that DDT might kill a few dozen people in the same time period due some infrequent misuse).
4) millions of people are more hungary or starving to death in larger numbers due to the cost of energy, also the fault of liberals, who have fought tooth and nail to prevent nuclear power, or increased oil drilling as an intermediate relief until more nuclear can be brought on line -- but now it is too late, despite having the chance to fix the problems more than 15 years ago, with offshore drilling and Alaskan drilling, and more sensible nuclear power plant requirements. Yes, Jane Fonda, due to her movie, "The China Syndrome" might even be responsible for a huge numbers of deaths due to lack of energy for heating homes or growing and transporting crops, all, a result of this false scare. I say false, since France is 85% nuclear, and no serious accidents.
5) Even Ted Kennedy and company have resisted windmills in one of the windiest places in the states, namely Cape Code areas, even if they were placed discretely. They want to sail on luxury sailing boats while the rest of us lack cheap electricity from wind-mill sources. Elistists, plain and simple, is what they are.
Liberals have created some good things too, but these days, the bad far outweighs the good, as greed for money, elitism, "junk science" and paronoia have set in.
I've said it before and
June 10, 2008 - 06:52 ET by taterI've said it before and I'll say it again...if the earth keeps warming whether it be CO2, solar flares, or something else...the air warms and leads to more water vapor in the atmosphere. That will lead to more clouds which will reflect more solar radiation and produce a cooling effect. The only way we get a runaway temperature effect is if our orbit around the sun changes or the earth's tilt dramatically shifts.
www.theholyrosary.org
"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we can not resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." -Sister Lucia
Thank you Noel!
June 10, 2008 - 07:06 ET by JWFMy yard is going absolutely bonkers with new growth this year. It ain't all just the rain and sun. There is something in the air. Dang, if I had just paid attention in Biology.
High energy prices
June 10, 2008 - 07:12 ET by NonanonFor decades now, liberals have wanted energy prices to be high. Their policies and activities have now converged to produce such prices. (I'm sure they still want prices to be higher, but with their proclivity to lie, they claim to be upset by them.) It seems that replacing Congress with more sane people is required to turn this thing around, albeit the results won't be seen for several years. Given the short attention span and memory of so many people, that may not happen. After all, many of those people don't remember that weather changes from year to year, month to month, or even day to day, so asking them to remember something from decades ago may be over the top.
What If
June 11, 2008 - 16:18 ET by PVit was common knowledge that atmospheric CO2 was a good thing and absolutely not a threat or pollutant and no one was focused on trying to reduce its volumes?
What would we be doing with oil supplies and research and development. Right now we would probably be swimming in new supplies of oil that would be available at the now higher prices.
Government fails us miserably. As Ronald Maximus said, they are the problem - not the solution. This bogus scare and junkscience is actually going to be the thing that causes the catastrophe. If indeed we are descending into a cooling period (hopefully more akin to the 1940-1970 one rather than the LIA) we are going to need all the cheaper energy we can muster and all the plant-enriching CO2 we can get.
I can't say on a public forum what I really think of these evirofascists and their politico tools in congress, and even more what I would like to see done with them.