Why do some people think global warming is a hoax by liberals and environmentalists to control them?

Question

Truthfully, I'm asking this mostly to give my answer.


I think their scientific arguments are strained and that the real reasons are:

Some people are very opposed to collective international actions and government control, as a philosophy. They want individual actions guided by the free market. This is not always wrong, but it is not helpful in dealing with enormous problems that actually need collective international solutions and government control.


Global warming is a huge problem that will require money and lifestyle changes from us well before we are personally damaged by it. It's very human to prefer to simply deny it's happening. People do things like that all the time.


I continue to believe the scientific arguments made by global warming critics are refuted by both hard scientific data and the opinion of knowledgeable people. But hopefully I'll be a little less self-righteous and more understanding when I say so.


Please deepen my understanding by answering.

Answer 1

Because it is what is expected of liberals and environmentalists, they have an alarmist attitude and seem to be exaggerating things. I believe that global warming is a real problem and can be solved but the only ones who are well known and supporting a fix for global warming are pretty much thought of as flakes. It's hard to believe in something Algore is interested in. As soon as some more respected individuals come out with a position things will change. I hope it is not too late then.

Answer 2

I believe that the global climate is changing. We can try to explain what is happening using scientific models and such, but that is not always easy to do to a certainty. Climate change is on such a grand scale that you cannot say that it is these "certain" gasses that are causing the whole thing.

I think the problem comes in when you get some people taking the general results and then forming specific theories from them. The ultimate push on this is to have these theories put into a movie and then get nominated for an Academy Award. Now you have exposure and since it is nominated...it MUST be true.

Not saying that Al's movie is fake, but that it seems to have presented some specific theories and pointed fingers at specific areas. Conclusions made in this movie are his own and he supports it using general data not meant for what he is talking about.

With this in mind, the people who researched this data will point and say that these "government" types are misusing this information to mislead the public. Hence we now have a conspiricy theory going as well.

Next step is to say ... what the government benefits from this conspiricy...and so on...

People are generally split into two groups to begin with...those who think for themselves and those who go with the flow. Flow followers will tend to go with the louder side....and that is usually the conspiricy theorists.

Your points are good too...about human nature to take the easy road and continue doing what we do right now.

Answer 3

Is global warming a hoax? Yes in the sense that the media portrays it. The Earth is indeed warming, but it is part of the natural cycle of things as well as solar activities. Back in the 70's the leading "experts" were up in arms about humans causing global cooling. So in 30 years we have went from causing an ice age to causing warming. It is nothing more than alarmist thinking intended to fuel peoples pocketbooks. Experts that disagree with man made global warming are silenced and ridiculed. An honest approach to this situation by scientists is sorely lacking. All one needs to do is trace the money to figure out who is getting the results that they paid for.

Answer 4

So what you are saying is it is better to just slap the poor with the tax than to make them pay it another way? They can CHOOSE to ride the bus as opposed to drive their energy-efficient cars, car pool as opposed to drive themselves. . . They can CHOOSE to find other ways to save energy. Most cities have measures to aid those that need it with making their homes energy efficient in inexpensive ways (plastic over the windows, getting them the new bulbs, paying on a "budget plan". . .). See, no matter what, there is always a choice. No one is at the mercy of the gas companies - and the problem those big corporations will have is passing the tax onto those that are hit hard by this economy. You think that $32 Billion dollar profit during a time when gas was $4.00 per gallon was a nightmare to those guys overall. They had a lot of explaining to do. Imagine them trying to explain why they are passing taxes they are assessed on profits (that they don't even know yet, by the way) to people that are out of jobs and trying like hell to pay their bills.

Answer 5

Of course the planet is getting warmer, no one can argue aganist that. That being said, the resistance to liberal solutions only make sense. First we should ask is warmer weather simply natural after all something stopped the last ice age and caused the glaicers to reseed and it sure wasn't Fred Flintstone driving a Tahoe. Second is global warming a bad thing, is it possible that warmer tempuratures will allow us to grow more food to feed the world, consume less energy to heat our homes and therefore cause a cooling cycle which will lowewr earths temps again. So far the liberal solutions have been Kyoto which exempts China, India and the developing world from restrictions which make the treaty useless except to transfer 1st world wealth to the 3rd world , or carbon tax proposails that hurt the working class around the world while giving hugh ammounts of money to governments to advance social programs of dubious value. When the left starts to offer real solution such as clean nuclear power, geothermal energy and free market methods will I belive they are more concerned with the enviroment and less concerned with creating a socialist one world hell

Answer 6

The two opposing theories, that it is caused by industrialization vs normal cyclic climate change, have a grain of truth. It undoubtedly is a "normal" cyclic change, as the magnetic field is getting weaker also, indicating that there are things we do not understand.
However, our hedonistic mindset, and the industry providing those things we think we cannot live without, are hastening the inevitable. WE cannot stop it, we can only delay it, which means that my grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to deal with it. The tragedy is, and will be, the loss of animals and total change in agriculture.

Answer 7

The main cause of climate change today is, hands down, natural solar cycles, caused in part by an erratic earth orbit, causing hot cold cycles every 120,000 years (Google "Milankovitch cycles"), and as the temperature naturally increases, so does the atmospheric Co2 (Google "Vostok Ice core studies"). Mans contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gasses MIGHT be a contributing factor, but no serious scientist or organization has been able to show any clear evidence of just how much that may be (ask them for the percentage, watch the tapdance). Most of the doom claimants are government paid and on government grants, running around yelling "the sky is falling" with no proof except melting ice caps due to natural solar cycles. Socialist liberal government thrives on crises and adversity, using them to justify higher taxes and tighter controls on personal behavior. "We are from the government, we are here to help you". Ok, government…you want to help? Several highly concentrated wind and solar farms in strategic locations could easily provide electric power for the entire country, cutting oil imports (and usage) by 75%. They have already been tested very successfully on a small scale and within 5 years if a concerted effort were forthcoming the entire system could be in place. Why is it not happening? C’mon…. how come???

Answer 8

How can we deepen something you have no understanding of? There are two kinds of people in this world... those who know about the topic and those who don't. No person, liberal or conservative that has researched Global Warming would say it doesn't exist and isn't at least partially man-made. The dispute is about how much of it is man-made and how much of it is natural and how much effort do we need to put out in order to make a significant impact if it's possible at all.

Answer 9

Many people still believe that global warming is a cyclic action. The earth's atmosphere warms up and then it cools down, warms up and cools down.. are the changes happening really due to the actions of humans or are they natural phenomenon?

How much Carbon Dioxide spews into the atmosphere from ONE volcanic eruption? Does the human production of Carbon Dioxide even compare to that? or to the production of other products from natural occurrences like forest fires?

This is the problem, not that the atmosphere is warming up, but rather, are humans really responsible for it and CAN we do anything?

Answer 10

I think that some people want to believe the "scientific arguments" made by global warning critics because Liberals have such a horrendous track record when it comes to being truthful. Another problem is that MANY Liberals have a problem with exaggerating the truth which does nothing to help in educating people on our environmental situations. It's like the boy who cried wolf.