By Bela “Bill” Suhayda
Sugar Grove, Ill.
The sun, with its warming and cooling cycles, is by far the largest variable to the warming or cooling of our planet. It is actually the only source of light and heat energy excluding lava flows. Nothing else even comes close to having the temperature affect on our planet the sun has. It is the only source of energy we have. All other energy, with the exception of geothermal energy, can be traced back to sunlight. Without the sun there is no wind because there would be no atmosphere. Our atmosphere would liquefy, then turn to a solid ice of mostly (N) Nitrogen which would cover the planet. Up to now you may not have realized water vapor (H2O) is a greenhouse gas. And you may not have realized water vapor causes more global warming than carbon dioxide CO2. Without water vapor there are no clouds and as a result, no rain. Without water, life as we know it, would not exist.
It is the same with CO2. CO2, just as water vapor is a greenhouse gas. Without CO2, plants could not photosynthesize sugar or produce any of the complex hydrocarbons making up plant parts, including cellulose, starches, all sources of food for animals, fungi and microscopic organisms. Yet Climate change fanatics act as if CO2 is a pollutant. It is not!! CO2 is essential for life to exist on planet Earth.
We are actually on the low side (.04% of our atmosphere) of where CO2 levels have been throughout the 4.5 billion years of our planet’s history. They’ve been three times higher than today at (.12%). When CO2 levels in the past were higher, it was warmer and the growth seasons were longer because there was more CO2 to support more plant life. During these times, the grasslands and forests were plush with vegetation on which all life on the planet depends for food.
Fossil fuels are the remnants of living things that have been petrified into coal, and liquified into crude oil. When we burn fossil fuels, we get the sunlight energy still in these fossils.
There is no reason to reduce our CO2 emissions. They are at historically low levels now (.04%). Countries such as China, Russia, and India, are increasing their fossil fuel consumption. They must do so in order to maintain the standards of living for their people. Fossil fuels are more efficient, cheaper, and even necessary to be used or the populations of people in the world will become poorer. This is why more people are falling under the poverty line right here in the U.S..
Cutting our oil and coal has created huge inflation and much higher prices on everything we purchase. An Electric Vehicle (E.V.) replacement battery costs $28,000 dollars. The life expectancy of the battery is 70,000 miles.
Electric Vehicle prices range from $30,000—to more than $100,000. E.V. batteries do not produce energy they store energy until the energy is used up. Then you need to recharge them. (Editor’s note: See the article on electric vehicles by Mary Goetsch on page 6.)
Coal, Diesel, and Natural Gas are used as fuel to generate electricity in power plants. It is stored sunlight energy left in fossil fuels that turn the turbines which generate electricity that run the Electric Vehicles.
So climate changers, do your E.V.s have a carbon foot print?