CO2 levels going up? Hmm, that should mean that temps should ALSO be going up, right?

As you can see here, CO2 emissions world wide show a big up-tick – pretty much by "other than" industrialized countries.  Given the slope of that rise, given the climate change models we keep hearing about, we should be seeing temps going up as quickly, right?

Problem is, what the models may show are, once again, is not mirroring the actual empirical evidence:

Thus far, 2009 is looking like another normal year—further indication that the warm period from 1998-2007 was an anomaly, rather than a step change to a new climate across the U.S. (be sure to check back in two months to see how the final 2009 numbers pan out).

No wonder the U.S. Senate is slow to get behind the need for restricting our fossil fuel-related energy supply in the name of climate change. 

The article points out that 1998 was the initiation of a peculiar weather event – a huge El Nino.  The questions to be answered in my mind are:

• Did the El Nino event "queer" the stats so as to make people believe AGW?
• Is this just a "pause" in an otherwise upward climb?
• Will this turn out to be the 70′s all over again ("We’re all gonna die in an Ice Age!")?
• Are we about to blow Trillions on something that just isn’t ours to control?

After all, we all have to admit that the true believers think the second and via the "Precautionary Principle" (which to me translates to "we never take any unknown (or stray into unknowable areas) risks at all) and that ALONE, gives them the right to determine how the rest of us lead our lives.

Government has already determined, in the name of environmentalism:

• how much water to use in a "flush"
• what we will be able to use for lightbulbs
• what kind of vehicles we drive
• forcing higher energy costs upon us "because it’s good for us"

You can think of lots more – and there are PLENTY of other busybodies that are not content to live their lives the way they want – they have this intense NEED to force it on you and I – all the while rationalizing that "it’s good for you". 

Case in point: now the Governmental Nanny State of California is going to determine how large of a TV set you can buy (remember, they also wanted to have the ability, via a smart grid, to turn off our appliances):

California is expected to implement energy-conserving regulations any day now that manufacturers and retailers say will in effect ban the sale of big-screen TVs in the state. Other states are likely to follow the Golden State’s “green” initiative in the months ahead.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 66% of Americans oppose a law that would effectively ban the sale of big-screen televisions to save energy. Sixteen percent (16%) favor the idea, and 18% are not sure.

Most adults (53%) say being able to buy whatever kind of TV they want is more important than conserving energy.

Sidebar – of COURSE it is CA!  Where else can State Government be absolutely bankrupt and dysfunctional and STILL believe it has the moral authority to tell others what to do instead of fixing it’s own house.  Come to think of it, the nitwits in the White House and the Capital fit that bill too!

It is clear that we are rapidly approaching the cliff.  We are almost to that tipping point.  And we are doing so, one step at a time, one by one.  We are so intent at watching the scenery – we’re missing the goal.

The goal is NOT to merely reduce our energy consumption.  Our goal, a more serious one, should be to be watch who is leading the parade – who or what is leading our steps towards the cliff and to that tipping point.  What happens when we reach that edge?  

We lose our freedom.

THAT is why people went to the TEA Party protests, and have gone to the Town Halls, and are continuing to throw political bombs at the Democrats AND Republicans that continue to believe that once voted into office, they are our rulers instead of working for us with our consent.  

By acquiescing to the steps without watching for the end point, we yield our freedom, our ability to chose what is best for us and our families, to someone sitting behind a desk far, far away.  Is that right? 

IF we give up and let "them" (the Statists striving to regulate our lives out of existence) win, it will be right.  And we will have let them.

The morale of the story is that I have concluded that it is never about the carbon, it is not about the healthcare, and it really isn’t about the dollars left in my pocket after the tax bite has been applied.  Oh, we can talk nuances until the cows come home (or they are legislated out of being for either being a cause of our obesity, a moral hazard due to the vegans, or their farts add to global warming), but it comes down to this:

Who controls are Freedom? 

Are we going to let them do it to us, or do we go and do something about THEM?

Get off yer fat behinds and start now – we need more to tell the politicians that WE are going to take their place!