Karen May's North Shore Energy Symposium Wrought with Misinformation

Part 1 of 2.

Early in May, Rep. Karen May (D-58) circulated an e-mail invitation to attend a Chicago North Shore Energy Symposium on June 2 along with the Veteran Outreach Program of the Truman National Security Project in Highland Park to commemorate World Environment Day.

What captured my attention were the topics to be discussion at the event, specifically:

• How oil dependence and climate change are threatening our country, endangering our troops and the security of America at large.

• Why a commitment to clean (green) energy initiative at the local, state, and federal level is vital to the future of American jobs.

Knowing that "warmists" would be reading my account of the symposium, not hesitating to eviscerate me while defending May, I thought it appropriate to include early on in my blog piece three of 18 "Food for Thought" argument facts about Global Warming/Climate Change based on hard scientific facts, as compiled by Jay Lehr, Ph.D., science director at The Heartland Institute.

1. Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. Plants need it to live and thrive. Humans exhale CO2 in breathing.

2. Man contributes only slightly more than 3 percent of CO2. Water vapor comes in first at more than 90 percent.

3. In the Medieval Warm Period (800 to 1200 AD), temperatures were 7 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit above those of today. At the time of the Norse settlement, Greenland was really Green.

All 18 of Lehr's argument points can be read in a previous column.

May, not unlike many legislators and government officials presently serving at the country, state, and federal level -- and also their like-minded constituents -- unconditionally accepts the "warmist" theory about Global Warming. It conforms to the political ideology and agenda of her political party that the EPA was justified in declaring CO2 a pollutant in April of 2009.    

It is unfortunate (and a national economic and job killer) for May and others of her ilk to pronounce that the science of global warming is settled with no room for debate.

As a firm believer in the "consensus" theory of Global Warming it was to be expected, but still unsettling, that May should offer her constituents a one-sided Energy Symposium about the urgent need for this nation (and Illinois) to wean itself from oil and to instead utilize green energy alternatives for the sake of this nation's national security.

From my point of view, blaming CO2 for Global Warming is like blaming a hangnail for obesity. 

This year's Heartland-sponored Seventh International Conference of Climate Change (ICCC7) from May 21-31 armed me with new and additional ammunition to use when encountering those who believe man-made or anthrogenic global warming exists. Heartland, located in Chicago, is a recognized world leader in exposing global warming for the hoax that it is. 

I was privileged to listen to 60 noted scientists, physicists, meteorologists, and policy experts from across the globe speak about climate change, not as a "consensus," but as a flawed theory devoid of hard scientific facts to lend credence to believers of anthrogenic (man-made) global warming. Videos of all 60 speakers at the ICCC7 can be found online. It is well worth checking out.

Throughout my attendance at the May ICCC7 conference, May's June 2 symposium never left my mind. In passing, I informed several of the guest speakers about my state representative's symposium that linked Global Warming to Energy Security.  All were appalled by what they heard. 

Sensing a receptive ear, I spoke in more detail to Patrick J. Michaels, Ph.D  about May's symposium, engaging in conversation with Dr. Michaels -- a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute -- while he was promoting the sale of his book, Climate Coup: Global Warming's Invasion Of Our Government and Our Lives. "

(Michaels' book features a series of authors who detail the width and depth of the impact global warming alarmism is having on their area of expertise.)

Without hesitation, Dr. Michaels turned to chapter four in his book to show me Ivan Eland's chapter contribution which explored the national security/global warming issue. It didn't take me long to find information telling me that Eland is a recognized expert on national security issues. 

Eland offers this conclusion in his Chapter 4 contribution Dr. Michael's book: "Global Warming, Environmental Threats, and U.S. Security:  Recycling the Domino Theory:

"Research shows that warming-induced resource scarcity is unlikely to cause much interstate conflict and is even suspect in generating the lesser threat of of interstate conflict. Thus, any ill effects from warming in the developing world could possibly be a humanitarian issue but not a crisis for U.S. security." 

Another ICCC7 speaker and author, Steve Goreham, executive director of the Climate Science Coalition of America -- a non-political association of scientists, engineers, and concerned citizens dedicated to educating Americans about the realities of climate change science and the economics of renewable energy -- took an immediate interest in May's symposium tale and offered to attend. 

Goreham's book, Climatism! Science, Common Sense, and the 21st Century's Hottest Topic, has as its message that Global Warming is due to natural cycles of the Earth -- not man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, misguided climate policies have no impact on climate change, but negatively impacting American citizens and business.

Part 2 will follow: Included will be a summary of the facts presented at May's North Shore Energy Symposium. Links will be included to illustrate how the "consensus" theory of Global Warming does not stand up to scrutiny if challenged by the hard facts of scientific truth, which is instead based on evidence.

Being an "authority" is not a criterion for the validity of an argument.

Seeing a "climate problem" does not necessarily mean it is caused by human activities.