Egg on my face...

The Salt Lake Tribune had a terrifying headline today, and it just got worse as I read the first paragraph:

Greenhouse pollution: Utah warming faster than anywhere else on Earth

Utah is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than the rest of the nation. The state is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet. And if nothing changes, prolonged, extreme droughts and heat waves are virtually assured.

The grim findings released Tuesday in the final report from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change are bad news for coming generations. But they also underpin scores of suggestions for an action plan to shrink the state's carbon footprint, a goal the governor intends to pursue.

KSL TV had the same story, only a little less dire.

Task Force Makes Suggestions about Global Warming

Global warming is for real, human activity is likely causing most of it, and it could mean serious consequences for Utah. The Governor's office released those scientific conclusions today, along with recommendations for doing something about the problem.

The governor appointed a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Climate Change more than a year ago. They in turn asked climate experts for a scientific report. But whether you believe the conclusions in their final report issued today, the Task Force is asking you to be part of the solution.

Is the earth's climate warming up? The science report for the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force says, "There is no longer any scientific doubt... There is very high confidence that human-generated increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are responsible for most of the global warming observed during the past 50 years."

Let me begin by apologizing to the rest of the world for causing your problems with global warming. I and every other Utah hang our heads in shame.

There are a few tips to follow when telling a good lie. These stories followed half of those tips, but missed the boat on the others.

Tip #1: Clever liars give details, but the cleverest don't. I think this was how my parents knew when I was lying, because it always involved some elaborate story. These two articles contain no details about any scientific evidence what-so-ever. Of course in the case of this article it might be handy to be able to look up those references for yourself, but since there is "No longer any scientific doubt..." I guess I don't need to.

Tip #2: A lie needs to be 95% truth. The idea here is you want the lie to be believable. For so time, I have been seeing reports about Beijing, especially in light of the Olympics there next year. They have problems with pollution, due to all the green house gases being pumped out by power plants. Surprisingly though, UT, a state with an abundance of forests and open land is worse than China - at least that is what the idiot reporters would have us believe.

Seriously though folks, this is the biggest load of CRAP I have even read - well except for when the HR Rep at my last employer tried to explain their compensation philosophy or complete lack there-of, but that could be the subject for another blog!

I have stated before, that I feel it is important to take care of the environment, but I believe we should do that out of personal responsibility, rather than by being manipulated by moron politicians and reporters after a story.

If you would like to understand why this is such a big deal, I would really recommend reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear

Chester the Bear has also written some excellent posts on this matter, and providing this link to an excellent series of video's from the Scientific Community about why the climate data is faulty, as well as the natural cycles of the earth, through which the earth is continuing to go.

As for the reporters, politicians and everyone else involved in the BS that is this 'news' story... Most of probably just well-meaning, yet absolutely and completely ignorant, to which I say... tsk, tsk, tsk!