Did I Miss It?

Al Gore, the prophet of doom on global warming, was recently interviewed by Chris Wallace, and asked about some of his past predictions of future catastrophes due to global warming. How have his predictions held up?

In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth (2006), he stated that unless the world “took drastic measures the world would reach a point of no return in ten years.” Perhaps he should have used a Ouija Board on that one.

In 2007 he predicted that summer Arctic ice in the North Pole would completely disappear by 2013 due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide. Perhaps he should have used a fortune-teller’s crystal ball on that one.

He also said that Mount Kilimanjaro would lose its snowpack by 2016. The last time I checked, it was still there. Perhaps he should have used tarot cards for that one.

Did I miss Al Gore saying,” I guess that I was wrong on my disastrous predictions about the ravages of global warming.”?

 

Seth Wynes (University of British Columbia) and Kimberly Nichols (Sweden’s Lund University) recently published an article in Popular Science about ways to combat climate change. (For those of you interested in measurements, there is a table in the article in Popular Science, 7/12/17.) They refer to and measure tons of CO2 equivalents(CO2E) saved per year. For instance with swapping out old light bulbs, one saves <0.2 tons of CO2E per year. Hanging clothes out to dry and recycling each saves about 0.2 tons per year, while washing clothes in cold water will save about 3 tons per year. Driving a hybrid will save 0.4 tons of CO2E per year, while not driving at all will save about 2.4 tons per year. Not driving at all is in the top four ways to save CO2E. The others in the top four include eating a plant based diet (0.6 CO2E/yr.), avoiding transatlantic flights (one less transatlantic flight per year saves 15 CO2E), and  . . . drum roll, please . . . by far  the biggest way to save CO2E is to have one less child, as this will save 120 CO2E per year!

Let’s talk for a minute about flying and CO2E used. Certainly the size of the plane, and the number of passengers on the plane will contribute to the amount of fuel used, and hence CO2E used or saved.

A transatlantic flight covers about 4000 miles. A transpacific flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai covers 6479 miles, while the air distance between Los Angeles and Beijing is 6254 miles. So when California’s Governor Jerry Brown recently traveled to China, his plane traveled over 12,000 miles on his round trip. This is the equivalent of approximately three transatlantic trips, or the equivalent of 45 CO2E!

Yes, yes, I realize the Governor Brown was not the only passenger on his plane when he went to China, but did I miss him saying, “Maybe the next time I will use “Face Time” instead of flying to China.”?

Likewise when Governor Brown flew down to Orange County to give a speech on behalf of senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) and against his recall, did he fly commercially . . . I doubt it!  I realize that he probably did not fly down on a 747, but I am sure it was not a piper cub. The distance between Sacramento and John Wayne airport in Orange County is 405 miles each way, or the equivalent of about 1/5 of a transatlantic flight for his round trip. This would be the equivalent of Jerry convincing a few of his Democratic cronies to become vegetarians. I wonder if he did that?

Did I miss him saying, “The next time I go down to Orange County, I am going to drive in my Tesla!”?

In addition, what about all of the transcontinental trips that Nancy Pelosi took when she was the Speaker of the House? If she did not fly back to San Francisco, the plane would not have flown at all. The distance between D.C. and San Francisco is 2441 miles, with one round trip then being the equivalent of one transatlantic flight or 15 CO2E. Did I miss Ms. Pelosi saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.”?

Now for the finale! If you were paying attention earlier, you probably were awed by the fact that each additional child born will use about 120 CO2E per year. In practical terms, each baby that is born to an illegal immigrant in California and subsequently stays in California will cost the state the equivalent of eight transatlantic flights per year for umpteen years!

Did I miss it when Governor Brown said, “We have to stop illegal immigration and the subsequent anchor babies so that we can save the planet from the ravages of climate change!”?