"CO2
for different people has different attractions. After all, what is
it? - it’s not a pollutant, it’s a product of every living
creature’s breathing, it’s the product of all plant respiration,
it is essential for plant life and photosynthesis, it’s a product
of all industrial burning, it’s a product of driving –
I mean, if you ever wanted a leverage point to control everything
from exhalation to driving, this would be a dream. So it has a kind
of fundamental attractiveness to bureaucratic mentality." -
Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Science, MIT
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not pollution and Global Warming has nothing
to do with pollution. The average person has been misled and is confused
about what the current Global Warming debate is about, greenhouse gases.
None of which has anything to do with air pollution. People are confusing
Smog, Carbon Monoxide (CO) and the pollutants in car exhaust with the
life supporting, essential trace gas in our atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide
(CO2). Pollution is already regulated under the Clean Air Act and regulating
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will do absolutely nothing to make the air you
breath "cleaner". Regulating Carbon Dioxide (CO2) through either 'Carbon
Taxes' or 'Cap and Trade' policies will simply make energy (electricity,
gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, heating oil ect...) much more expensive
and severely cripple the economy.
"CO2 is not a pollutant. In simple
terms, CO2 is plant food. The green world we see around us would disappear
if not for atmospheric CO2. These plants largely evolved at a time
when the atmospheric CO2 concentration was many times what it is today.
Indeed, numerous studies indicate the present biosphere is being invigorated
by the human-induced rise of CO2. In and of itself, therefore, the
increasing concentration of CO2 does not pose a toxic risk to the
planet." - John R. Christy, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Alabama
"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant but a naturally occurring, beneficial
trace gas in the atmosphere. For the past few million years, the Earth
has existed in a state of relative carbon dioxide starvation compared
with earlier periods. There is no empirical evidence that levels double
or even triple those of today will be harmful, climatically or otherwise.
As a vital element in plant photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is the
basis of the planetary food chain - literally the staff of life. Its
increase in the atmosphere leads mainly to the greening of the planet.
To label carbon dioxide a "pollutant" is an abuse of language, logic
and science." - Robert M. Carter, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental
and Earth Sciences, James Cook University
"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. On the contrary, it makes crops
and forests grow faster. Economic analysis has demonstrated that more
CO2 and a warmer climate will raise GNP and therefore average income.
It's axiomatic that bureaucracies always want to expand their scope
of operations. This is especially true of EPA, which is primarily
a regulatory agency. As air and water pollution disappear as prime
issues, as acid rain and stratospheric-ozone depletion fade from public
view, climate change seems like the best growth area for regulators.
It has the additional glamour of being international and therefore
appeals to those who favor world governance over national sovereignty.
Therefore, labeling carbon dioxide, the product of fossil-fuel burning,
as a pollutant has a high priority for EPA as a first step in that
direction." - S. Fred Singer, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Environmental
Sciences, University of Virginia
"Carbon and CO2 (carbon dioxide) are fundamental for all life on Earth.
CO2 is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic gas. CO2 is product of our
breathing, and is used in numerous common applications like fire extinguishers,
baking soda, carbonated drinks, life jackets, cooling agent, etc.
Plants' photosynthesis consume CO2 from the air when the plants make
their carbohydrates, which bring the CO2 back to the air again when
the plants rot or are being burned." - Tom V. Segalstad, Ph.D. Professor
of Environmental Geology, University of Oslo
"To suddenly label CO2 as a "pollutant" is a disservice to a gas that
has played an enormous role in the development and sustainability
of all life on this wonderful Earth. Mother Earth has clearly ruled
that CO2 is not a pollutant." - Robert C. Balling Jr., Ph.D. Professor
of Climatology, Arizona State University
"Many chemicals are absolutely necessary for humans to live, for instance
oxygen. Just as necessary, human metabolism produces by-products that
are exhaled, like carbon dioxide and water vapor. So, the production
of carbon dioxide is necessary, on the most basic level, for humans
to survive. The carbon dioxide that is emitted as part of a wide variety
of natural processes is, in turn, necessary for vegetation to live.
It turns out that most vegetation is somewhat 'starved' for carbon
dioxide, as experiments have shown that a wide variety of plants grow
faster, and are more drought tolerant, in the presence of doubled
carbon dioxide concentrations. Fertilization of the global atmosphere
with the extra CO2 that mankind's activities have emitted in the last
century is believed to have helped increase agricultural productivity.
In short, carbon dioxide is a natural part of our environment, necessary
for life, both as 'food' and as a by-product." - Roy Spencer, Ph.D.
Meteorology
"I am at a loss to understand why anyone would regard carbon dioxide
as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide, a natural gas produced by human respiration,
is a plant nutrient that is beneficial both for people and for the
natural environment. It promotes plant growth and reforestation. Faster-growing
trees mean lower housing costs for consumers and more habitat for
wild species. Higher agricultural yields from carbon dioxide fertilization
will result in lower food prices and will facilitate conservation
by limiting the need to convert wild areas to arable land." - David
Deming, Ph.D. Geophysics
"Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is a colorless, odorless trace
gas that actually sustains life on this planet. Consider the simple
dynamics of human energy acquisition, which occurs daily across the
globe. We eat plants directly, or we consume animals that have fed
upon plants, to obtain the energy we need. But where do plants get
their energy? Plants produce their own energy during a process called
photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to combine water and carbon dioxide
into sugars for supporting overall growth and development. Hence,
CO2 is the primary raw material that plants depend upon for their
existence. Because plants reside beneath animals (including humans)
on the food chain, their healthy existence ultimately determines our
own. Carbon dioxide can hardly be labeled a pollutant, for it is the
basic substrate that allows life to persist on Earth." - Keith E.
Idso, Ph.D. Botany
"Atmospheric CO2 is required for life by both plants and animals.
It is the sole source of carbon in all of the protein, carbohydrate,
fat, and other organic molecules of which living things are constructed.
Plants extract carbon from atmospheric CO2 and are thereby fertilized.
Animals obtain their carbon from plants. Without atmospheric CO2,
none of the life we see on Earth would exist. Water, oxygen, and carbon
dioxide are the three most important substances that make life possible.
They are surely not environmental pollutants." - Arthur B. Robinson,
Ph.D. Chemistry
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Carbon Dioxide
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a natural part of
Earth's Atmosphere (NASA) - Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere
have risen from 0.028% to 0.038% (380ppm) over the past 100 years
(IPCC) - Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not toxic until
5% (50,000ppm) concentration (Source) - Any detrimental effects of Carbon Dioxide
(CO2) including chronic exposure to 3% (30,000ppm) are reversible
(Source) - OSHA, NIOSH, and ACGIH occupational exposure
standards are 0.5% (5,000 ppm) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (Source)
Kyoto Protocol
The
Kyoto Protocol is a treaty to regulate 'Greenhouse
Gases' only:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Methane (CH4)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) (Laughing Gas, Nitrous,
NOS)
- Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
- Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
- Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
* Your car's Catalytic
Converter removes about 95% of these pollutants by converting
them to Water and Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Smog
Smog
consists of:
- Ozone (O3) * (formed from the photochemical
reaction of Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) + Hydrocarbons)
- Particulate matter (PM-10) *
- Sulfur dioxide (SO2) *
* Air Pollution is already regulated in the:
1970 Clean
Air Act (Amended: 1977, 1990)
SUVs
- Since the mid-1970s, the fuel economy of
SUVs and light trucks has improved by nearly 60%. (Source) - Today’s SUVs are 50% more efficient
than cars were a generation ago. (Source) - The emissions from a new midsize SUV are
cleaner than those of the average passenger car built just three years
ago. (Source) - All the cars and light trucks in the U.S.
make up only about 2% of all man-made greenhouse gases worldwide.
(Source)
Air Quality
in America
- The United States has sharply reduced air pollution levels, despite
large increases in nominally "polluting" activities (Source) - Air pollution affects far fewer people, far less often, and with
far less severity than is commonly believed. (Source) - Areas in the United States with the highest pollution levels have
improved the most (Source) - Air quality in the United States will continue to improve (Source) - Regulators and environmental activists exaggerate air pollution
levels and obscure positive trends in the United States (Source)
