Breakthrough? Scientists devise way to pull carbon from the atmosphere
posted at 10:09 pm on July 24, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Via Conservative Punk, it’s a few months old but potentially significant enough to earn a belated link, especially since (for once) the credentials of the people involved are solid.
The prototype so-called scrubber will be small enough to fit inside a shipping container. Lackner estimates it will initially cost around £100,000 to build, but the carbon cost of making each device would be “small potatoes” compared with the amount each would capture, he said.
The scientists stress their invention is not a magic bullet to solve climate change. It would take millions of the devices to soak up the world’s carbon emissions, and the CO2 trapped would still need to be disposed of. But the team says the technology may be the best way to avert dangerous temperature rises, as fossil fuel use is predicted to increase sharply in coming decades despite international efforts…
He added: “Our project has reached the stage where it is quite clear we can do it. We need to start dealing with all these emissions. I’d rather have a technology that allows us to use fossil fuels without destroying the planet, because people are going to use them anyway.”
The breakthrough, if I understand it correctly, lies not in capturing the carbon dioxide but in disposing of it. Until now, the energy involved in processing it from the scrubber made the device prohibitively inefficient; now, thanks to some voodoo involving humidity changes, they can do it with one-tenth the amount. Even better: “The patent suggests the scrubber could be connected to greenhouses, where the CO2 would boost plant growth. Or the gas could be used to grow algae, for food, fertiliser or fuel. The latter could ‘close the carbon loop,’ Lackner said.”
Coming soon to a liberal bumper sticker near you: We can’t carbon-suck our way out of this problem. Think I’m kidding? Via Conservative Punk again, go see what Greenpeace et al. think of the device. In so many words, it’s simply not a punitive enough solution.
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In what alternate universe are they living in that people will stop using any fossil fuels and emitting carbon?
amerpundit on July 24, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Good enough for me. Buying a humvee and leaving it on idle with the air on and windows open.
Dash on July 24, 2008 at 10:16 PM
I work in a greenhouse, when I need CO2 I open a friggin window and I have over 200,000 little carbon scrubbers that cost pennies to create; their called plants.
Ciannaky on July 24, 2008 at 10:19 PM
zzzzzz
My collie says:
**snort** Huh? Hmmm. Why don’t you wake me when they invent a machine that sucks the stupid out of left-wing loons. zzzz
CyberCipher on July 24, 2008 at 10:21 PM
Damned carbon based life forms!
BL@KBIRD on July 24, 2008 at 10:21 PM
its never been about co2 its always been about the green nuts telling everyone else how to live their lives and then controlling how they live there lives .
I think BHO could have used a scrubber today anyone want to guess how much co2 he spewed out with the lame speech in berlin.
Mojack420 on July 24, 2008 at 10:22 PM
So if you own a home, and the basement leaks, then you shouldn’t get a sump pump, and remove the water that comes in, because it ‘doesn’t fix the problem,’ and you should live in a house with a flooded basement until you can fix every single hair line crack 10 feet below the surface of the ground from every single side of the foundation.
Cool.
wise_man on July 24, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Rebreathers have been using scrubbers for years, it’s just not cost effective to recycle them.
that being said, we already know it’s not CO2 that’s the problem.
Canadian Imperialist Running Dog on July 24, 2008 at 10:25 PM
This is retarded… and frankly a little scary. While at first glance I want to say “who cares, even though global warming is a hoax, let ‘em do it”… but the scary part about it is that this will be tinkering with nature, with unknown consequences. Should we really be f-ing with the atmosphere which, whether you believe God given or not, is a unique part of our privileged planet and allows us to be living here. The more I think about this idea, the less I like it.
No for some fun… Yet ANOTHER big time scientist has defected from the global warming community, and even explains why he (and others) have been so easily sucked in to it in the first place.
There are a few stories like this a week actually, but this one is a great summary and well written so that people of all levels of understanding of the issue can grasp it.
MUST READ!!!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24036736-7583,00.html
RightWinged on July 24, 2008 at 10:25 PM
What are the plants going to breathe?
Chakra Hammer on July 24, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Its’ not nice to fool (with) mother nature.
dhunter on July 24, 2008 at 10:26 PM
It’s all about energy consumption control with these people. Global Warming is just a red snapper.
Verbal Abuse on July 24, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Ahem, maybe http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/news/2008/january/03010801.asp could be a better idea when combined with new nuc plants.
Canadian Imperialist Running Dog on July 24, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Er. . . I guess they haven’t heard. There is no CO2 climate forcing. It isn’t happening. The isn’t any ‘global warming’, except for a modest increase since the Little Ice Age back about 2-300 years ago. CO2 is good for plants, good for people, good for the planet.
See this article (amongst a great many):
David Evans: “No Smoking Hot Spot.”
MrLynn on July 24, 2008 at 10:31 PM
CyberCipher and his Collie never fail to disappoint. Two of my favorite posters across all the tubes of the innerwebs.
Ferris on July 24, 2008 at 10:31 PM
They’ve made… a mechanical tree. Party on, Garth.
Mr Michael on July 24, 2008 at 10:33 PM
Heard about this today via Glenn Beck. I admit I’m an anthropomorphic global warming agnostic. If warming is true and serious, a few million of these babies and a few thousand giant space umbrellas will save us. I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.
gmoonster on July 24, 2008 at 10:34 PM
They should send a few of those things to China. It’s getting really bad over there.
SoulGlo on July 24, 2008 at 10:34 PM
Great!
The longer they stall, the longer for the pseudo-science to fall apart.
Spirit of 1776 on July 24, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Rightwinged,
You said:
Should we really be f-ing with the atmosphere which, whether you believe God given or not, is a unique part of our privileged planet and allows us to be living here.
As stated above, I’m an anthropomorphic global warming agnostic. However, we “F” with the atmosphere every time we burn natural gas, coal, oil or gasoline. I’m just sayin’.
gmoonster on July 24, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Why are we even still playing this game? We all know that the ‘environmentalist’ agenda has nothing to do with saving the earth (their moronic followers, notwithstanding)…we’ve all know it a long time now. It’s a leftist kabuki dance to socialize and control everything through central planning…the haves being the leftist elite and the have-nots…well, it’s not them, whew! Seriously, the mask has slipped so many times by now, this one isn’t even funny…it’s an ugly totalitarian grab to take away all personal choice and freedom and anybody who put’s a question mark behind any of their quotes is a part of the problems…unless it’s an extra-snarky question mark, that is.
AUINSC on July 24, 2008 at 10:38 PM
For carbon-based life forms, the
Global WarmersClimate Changers are pretty damned stupid about the essentials.The Carbon scam, as the president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus noted in his recent book, is just another form of the totalitarian impulse disguised as A Higher Green Morality (instead of the discredited Utopian Proletarianism).
The methods are the same though: browbeat, lockstep, dominate.
And the aims, identical: a group of pious know-it-alls ruling the bamboozled suckers.
No f’ing thanks, green comrades.
Such “carbon scrubbing” technologies, even if they turn out to be ultimately meaningless (i.e. ineffectual, because the problem is minor, or non-existent as posed) for the actual environment (or against “human-caused climate change”) are useful to shut down the unscientific hysteria generated the the Climatistas.
Like a comforter in a baby’s mouth.
Providing no nutrition but reducing the annoying bawling.
profitsbeard on July 24, 2008 at 10:39 PM
What part of the term “Watermelon” is unclear?
Green on the outside, red on the inside. They just want to control how you live. Period.
VolMagic on July 24, 2008 at 10:39 PM
I’m about to go to sleep… better turn on all my lights.
VolMagic on July 24, 2008 at 10:41 PM
And then what will the plants do?
It’s all about convincing ignorant people to pay more taxes, so government can pretend to control the weather. $8 trillion in new taxes, and 800 billion for the climate mumbo jumbo. What’s the other $7.2 trillion for — Anything the socialist want it to be for. Neat scam huh …
tarpon on July 24, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Couldn’t this technology be mixed in with
a thermal nuclear warhead,that way,after the
ka-Blooey,it’ll clean up after itself!haha:)
canopfor on July 24, 2008 at 10:43 PM
Socialism, lefties, and Europeans (the latter is a repeat, for the most part) are veeeeery indignant.
p.s. not you aengus :)
Entelechy on July 24, 2008 at 10:43 PM
It’s a true carbon credit!
SouthernGent on July 24, 2008 at 10:45 PM
If Gore really thinks this is a “global emergency”, he’ll order 10 of these little gems tomorrow!
gmoonster on July 24, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Like a comforter in a baby’s mouth.
profitsbeard on July 24,2008 at 10:39PM.
profitsbeard:Outstanding and Brilliant!
Online business adventure,a comfort
blanket for Liberals!
Todays model,is onsale,the Obamaforter,
for those Liberals who might have doubts,
about their faith in Obama!
I called my daughters comforter,a binky,
short form, for blanket!
So,I think,from now to Nov.4,Liberals
should buy up mini-Binkys to get them
through this election! haha!
canopfor on July 24, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Forget this.
I am thinking more about a tequila party myself.
F15Mech on July 24, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Well, that’s a matter of opinion. If one doesn’t belive carbon dioxide is a problem any amount of money spent capturing it is a waste, unless you manufacture dry ice.
Morons.
Dusty on July 24, 2008 at 10:57 PM
What IDIOT wants less CO2 in the atmosphere? DUH.
ParisParamus on July 24, 2008 at 10:58 PM
Scientist should be spending more of their research time to invent a way to get Al Gore to consume energy like us mere mortals.
Dusty on July 24, 2008 at 10:59 PM
This is like the movie Idiocracy where the marching morons have been feeding the plants electrolytes because everyone knows that’s what plants need. This of coarse caused world wide famine. I wonder what getting rid of carbon dioxide would do for us.
BDavis on July 24, 2008 at 11:02 PM
You ask too much.
There are some things that even scientists can’t do.
wise_man on July 24, 2008 at 11:04 PM
In what alternate universe are they living in that people will stop using any fossil fuels and emitting carbon?
amerpundit on July 24, 2008 at 10:15 PM
the democratic party?
unseen on July 24, 2008 at 11:04 PM
“Captain Grog, how did your mission to contact the Earthlings go?”
“Not well, general. They had invented these devices to suck the CO2 out of the air.”
“The fools! Didn’t they know that’s what keeps the planet warm?”
“They do now, posthumously. Everything was frozen solid when we got there.”
Kafir on July 24, 2008 at 11:06 PM
Al started a hoax. Which started the whole world crying.
But what Al didn’t see was that the joke was on he.
Oh, no, Al started to cry. Which started the whole world laughing.
Oh, if he’d only seen that the joke was on he.
Al looked at the skies. Running his hands over his eyes.
And he fell out of bed. Hurting his head from things that he said.
Till Al’s power finally died. Which started the whole world living.
Oh, if he’d only seen that the joke was on he.
Oh, no, that the joke was on he. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
MB4 on July 24, 2008 at 11:07 PM
Till Al’s power finally died. Which started the whole world
livingdrilling.Oh, if he’d only seen that the joke was on he.
Oh, no, that the joke was on he. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
MB4 on July 24, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Carbon dioxide is not a problem around my house–I’ve loads of happily photosynthesizing plants of all sizes and shapes indoors and out that take care of the atmospheric carbon in my immediate vicinity, thanks. They work cheap, too–a little water, a few hours of sunlight each day, they’re happy campers. And when they die you can compost them to make more plants! Win-win!
Bob's Kid on July 24, 2008 at 11:11 PM
Yes, that’s what the Chinese need — more algae.
AZCoyote on July 24, 2008 at 11:12 PM
lol! P.O.D.!
MechEng5by5 on July 24, 2008 at 11:14 PM
Maybe the tide is beginning to turn against this enviro-quackery and the fools that worship at that altar
electric-rascal on July 24, 2008 at 11:16 PM
It’s really all about them…they’ve got the idjit vote (which has now become the majority in this country faster than anybody dared dream) all locked up…So THEY..our new leftist (or whatever they are) overloards can fly THEIR carbon-spewing jets and drive THEIR 10 gallon/mile SUV’s to whatever ‘let them eat cake’ hypocricy convention they choose…and they know they will be hailed as models of absolute moral virtue…while Jethro Greenie (and the rest of us) pedals his squeeky (no hydrocarbons allowed, remember) tricycle around town hoping to score a ‘red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white’, low-transfat dinner (cardboard will do in a crunch)… before he goes home and reads his comic book collection (The Adventures of Obama The LIGHTWORKER!) by candle light….
AUINSC on July 24, 2008 at 11:19 PM
I’ve got a better deal. The grass, trees, seaweed, pond scum, and all that other fauna stuff already does the job, on the cheap, and not only captures the carbon-dioxide, but breaks it down and consumes the carbon and releases the oxygen back to the atmosphere. The only energy needed for the process comes from the sun.
The plants reproduce to carry on the process, rot, and become the fuel we burn to create the carbon-dioxide the grass, trees, seaweed, pond scum, and all that other fauna stuff needs to consume to reproduce, clean the atmosphere of carbon-dioxide, replenish the oxygen, etc., etc.
Ever wonder why there hasn’t been a drop in the oxygen content of the atmosphere with all the production of carbon-dioxide going on? Odd, isn’t it? Why no panic about how we’re all gonna die of asphyxiation long before we cook to death in a runaway greenhouse oven?
You can find the answer to this global warming disaster hoax in little piles deposited in the pastures and grazing ranges all across this land.
Like those piles, this hoax also emanates from the same sphincter. Take any truth and filter it through a bovine sphincter, and you can create most anything. No one wants to give this stuff the sniff test. It’s disgusting. But, do it anyway. Once you’ve reached the source, you’ll know precisely the character of the beasts who created it. They are called Bullshit Artists.
Woody
woodcdi on July 24, 2008 at 11:21 PM
A space umbrella, would be the real solution IF there was a problem.. they could be remote controlled and unrolled.. (they wouldn’t look like a “normal umbrella” more like a roll of “tinfoil” something that is light weight that could block the sun, maybe if they wanted to they could make them mirror like and redirect the sun back to earth in a concentrated stream in certain parts where solar panels are located.. and these systems could even be self powered having solar panels on them)
Chakra Hammer on July 24, 2008 at 11:21 PM
And then what will the plants do?
[tarpon on July 24, 2008 at 10:41 PM]
This will lead to no good I tell you. The highly industrialized countries will start out developing them and use them for peaceful purposes, but who will control the amount of scrubbing and when to stop? Someone will eventually realize this could be used as a weapon and militarize them.
Carbon Scrubber bombs will be tested that wipe out swaths of Flora and this will lead to a Carbon Scrubber Arms Race. Too many developed countries will want to have them and will have to create a Carbon Scrubber Non-Proliferation Pact. Smaller countries will try to evade the pact and secretly start their own scrubber weapons programs.
Save the flora!!! Down with Carbon Scrubbers.
Dusty on July 24, 2008 at 11:25 PM
Everyone will have to start breathing really fast to save the planet! :D
hyperventilate ‘08 !
Chakra Hammer on July 24, 2008 at 11:28 PM
[WARNING: good faith but possibly flawed math attempt ahead]
approx radius of the Earth in inches: 252077760
approx area of the Earth in sq. in.: 798506690141387943
approx atmospheric pressure: 14.5 psi
For each of those square inches there is a column of air extending to the edge of the atmosphere, with about 14.5 pounds of air in that column. Soooo, our atmosphere weighs about 11578347007050125187 pounds, of which about 4399771862679047 pounds is CO2. 2,199,885,931,339 tons, if you prefer.
Hey Lackner, how many of these doohickeys are ya plannin’ on building?
Better question: how much fossil fuel can we burn before we make a meaningful change in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere? LOTS!
innominatus on July 24, 2008 at 11:31 PM
Beat ya to it MrLynn!
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/24/breakthrough-scientists-devise-way-to-pull-carbon-from-the-atmosphere/comment-page-1/#comment-1259921
RightWinged on July 24, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Better question: how much fossil fuel can we burn before we make a meaningful change in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere? LOTS!
315 PPM in 1958 to 385 PPM in 2008
What’s that, about 400,000,000,000 tons?
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html
I’m not saying it’s a problem, I’m saying CO2 concentrations HAVE changed.
gmoonster on July 24, 2008 at 11:42 PM
How would these shameless so called scientists refute the analogy that the amount of co2 man has put into the atmosphere is the equivalent to the thickness of a baseball card to the length a football field and more co2 means more plant life which in turn gives us more oxygen….seams like a win win situation to me.
Just a rhetorical question….I’m bored now with whole “O” crap…..sorry if I’m boring anybody.
jerrytbg on July 24, 2008 at 11:43 PM
What’s a few tons between friends?
innominatus on July 24, 2008 at 11:46 PM
MORE PLANTS…MORE OXYGEN!!
jerrytbg on July 24, 2008 at 11:54 PM
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/12343892/can_dr_evil_save_the_world
Even better… read it and DRILL!
Romeo13 on July 24, 2008 at 11:55 PM
In the screen-cap, Gore is screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” But he is thinking, those G-D capitalist entrepeneurs!! This would NEVER happen in the EU. Even if someone had the initiative to invent something like this, it would be bottled up by bureaucratic red-tape and the inventor sent for re-education. I’m in a F’n Catch-22! If I could get my socialist policy changes rammed through Congress, this kind of entrepeneurial nonesense would be finished! But I can’t get my policy changes enacted because these enterpeneurs keep solving the bogus problem that I know full way doesn’t exist anyway. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! This is MY time!!
smellthecoffee on July 24, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Yeah, ‘cuz if arugula gets any more expensive I may have to start shopping at some horrid, big-box superdupermarket frequented by bitter Bible believers.
innominatus on July 25, 2008 at 12:00 AM
…and the CO2 trapped would still need to be disposed of
OMG, it’s nearly as scary as that awful nuclear (nookyaler?) waste!!!1!!
innominatus on July 25, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Nothing these bastards propose ever holds up under mathematical analyses. Wind, solar, biodiesel – it’s all crap.
About two years ago, I watched some idiot “expert” babbling on that if we only built just 50,000 square miles of solar panels, we would have the total amount of energy needed to run the nation.
The reporter-cretin who was sitting there listening didn’t even ask a follow-up question.
The entire state of New York is 50,000 square miles, by the way.
TexasJew on July 25, 2008 at 12:05 AM
give it a rest………lol…….go here roflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:06 AM
What are the plants going to breathe?
Chakra Hammer on July 24, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Al Gore’s farts. Same as the rest of us peons.
TexasJew on July 25, 2008 at 12:09 AM
sorry……..that was the wrong link….go here
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:20 AM
that was great…did you read the comment at the end?
ro”Cabin Sole”lmao!!! good stuff!
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:31 AM
It’s never been about the global temperature, it’s all about punishing western civilization.
Socratease on July 25, 2008 at 12:31 AM
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:20 AM
Nice. I’d put that on my own car but the peace-loving progressives in my town would give me a hemp-necklace beat-down and leave me to die.
innominatus on July 25, 2008 at 12:35 AM
no, that’s methane mixed with some unknown oozing substance.
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:36 AM
Been there more than once…know what you mean.
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:40 AM
[TexasJew on July 25, 2008 at 12:05 AM]
It worse than that.
Den Beste’s post, here, goes into that a little and commenters, SDB included, threw around a few numbers for comparison. For instance, the American carpet industy rolls out about 1300 sq km of carpet a year or about 500 sq mi.
As of now, the solar production facilities make nowhere near that amount; maybe making high end 10,000 sq meters a year. Still even if they ramp up to 2600 sq km of film, it would take 50 years to produce 50,000 sq mi of solar panels and that’s ignoring the panels useful life.
Experts like the guy you listened to have no concept of what’s reasonable when they throw their “if only we” numbers around. And why build 50,000 sq miles of solar panels when you can build, what, 100 square miles of nuke plant.
Dusty on July 25, 2008 at 12:45 AM
Carbon is not a pollutant.
Kini on July 25, 2008 at 12:46 AM
amazing…isn’t it!!!
It just blows me away….
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:50 AM
“Crisis averted?” Not if Al Gore’s bank account has anything to say about it.
Irenaeus on July 25, 2008 at 12:53 AM
If the frigging lefties think we’ve hit Peak Oil, then what the hell are they worried about? It’s a self-correcting problem.
shaken on July 25, 2008 at 12:53 AM
Hey, I just thought of something.
According to the evidence, there was a waming trend that ended in 2001 and a cooling trend since.
Remember all those seemingly endless rainforest fires in Brazil years ago? Perhaps the warming of the ’80s and ’90s was due to massive deforestation, and the recent cooling is due to the forests reconstituting.
Perhaps the Brazilian rainforests are acting like a massive atmospheric carbon scrubber. Hmmm.
Tuning Spork on July 25, 2008 at 12:54 AM
UPDATE: Nah. Seems the fires, logging and general deforestation are continuing as always. Oh, well.
Tuning Spork on July 25, 2008 at 12:58 AM
May very well be part of it….but the sun is the BIGGEST factor in this whole debate.
jerrytbg on July 25, 2008 at 12:59 AM
They actually featured these guys on NOVA Science Now or whatever that show is on PBS with that black guy hosting (it’s actually a pretty decent science show that delves into a good deal of real world, out of this world, science topics in one show).
It seems that a device like the one mentioned would need careful energy management throughout the loop to recieve the best results. They have a lot of work to do, but they really need to find the support for this kind of thing, and that support is definitly not going to come from the Greenies – Republicans could likely become their best friends and win a few votes from the left in the process.
PresidenToor on July 25, 2008 at 1:20 AM
Ironic that the environmentalist extremists oppose this…. Isn’t this good for the environment and completely negate fossil fuel usage. I.e. doesn’t even matter if you use fossil fuels in the first place?
nazo311 on July 25, 2008 at 1:29 AM
Tesla smiles
Ugly on July 25, 2008 at 1:58 AM
Removing CO2 from the atmosphere would likely reduce crop yields globally. CO2 is plant food.
crosspatch on July 25, 2008 at 4:45 AM
CO2 suckers. How appropriate. That’s what the Gorons are, by golly. Now tell me the manufacturer is Chicken Little, LLC.
Dr. Charles G. Waugh on July 25, 2008 at 5:02 AM
Yep. I thought I was typing the first comment in this thread, but by the time I had finished there were maybe 20 ahead of me.
Yep. CO2 is good for plants, good for us, good for the Earth. It does not force the climate to warm. The hypothesis that it causes ‘global warming’ is false.
All the government has to do is stop funding studies based on the hypothetical effects of ‘global warming’, and the whole idea would fritter away, like smoke on the wind.
MrLynn on July 25, 2008 at 6:54 AM
And, if you call in the next fifteen minutes, shipping is free. All can be yours for $19,999,995. And, call right now and we’ll throw in the second carbon eater absolutely free. That’s two for the price of one. Send you checks and money orders to GoreCo.
orlandocajun on July 25, 2008 at 6:56 AM
If only someone would master the technology required to remove Algore’s head from his ass.
hillbillyjim on July 25, 2008 at 7:39 AM
That would be an awesome weapon worthy of a “Dude” title. Imagine using it to shade your enemy or cook them. It’s no instant kill but to put a country or region into perpetual darkness or light would have a massive impact long term on that country.
jmarcure on July 25, 2008 at 7:53 AM
Tinfoil hats are more cost-effective.
:-)
hillbillyjim on July 25, 2008 at 8:04 AM
Apparently Penn and Teller did a spoof on ‘global warming’:
“They’ve got that global warming thing down cold”
Can anyone supply a video?
MrLynn on July 25, 2008 at 8:06 AM
They would only work for reflecting sun light and how would you get your enemy to put them on? If you sent in troops and force them to ware the hats then you might just as well kill them and be over with it. The hats also wouldn’t be effective in causing massive crop failure or melting glaciers. So all in all I really don’t think the tinfoil hats are as effective as sticking a big old shade over the opposition.
jmarcure on July 25, 2008 at 8:18 AM
We just gotta keep poking sticks in the works of these carbon-eating plans and tax schemes. I think you just have to let the stupid run its course, just like the global cooling scares of the ’70s. Maybe a couple of extra cold winters will do the trick. Of course, when you have the O! spouting off the way he did last nite in Berlin, you know the stupid is really thick.
JimK on July 25, 2008 at 8:29 AM
Perhaps tinfoil hats with lithium?
hillbillyjim on July 25, 2008 at 8:31 AM
Liberals will hate it because it doesn’t have that masses-controlling element to it that classic environmentalism has.
Also, we will be more screwed when these things suck out too much of the carbon the atmosphere needs.
Grafted on July 25, 2008 at 8:54 AM
We should not drill for additional fossil fuels. We should rely solely on renewable energy resources. One question: HOW THE HELL DO WE DO IT? DRILL DRILL DRILL God, I hate Pelosi, Reed and their ilk. Crooks.
marklmail on July 25, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Allah-
I read your piece 3x and still can’t see where your tongue is planted in your cheek.
Do you advocate pulling CO2 from the atmosphere?
JiangxiDad on July 25, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Oh lol, this FP pic is bested only by the 70’s chic bill clinton one, I need to start saving these to my HD.
saus on July 25, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Oh I don’t know, I think if the environmentalists are against it, it’s probably a good thing. They were totally against nuclear power as well, look where that’s gotten us.
4shoes on July 25, 2008 at 9:27 AM
This device serves no purpose for the Al Gore types, they can’t make any money this way. This idea is NOT to pull CO2 out of the air but to PAY Al Gore for carbon credits.
CO2 has continued to climb for the last ten years, while the earth becomes cooler. Duh… it’s pretty obvious to anyone paying attention that CO2 is NOT the cause of warming.
It’s the sun that drives the small various in average global temperature and nothing else. We are currently in a period of no sun spots, thus the earth is cooling. The global warming crowd of course denies this, they can’t make any money that way either.
CO2 is a beneficial gas in the atmosphere in every respect, we want more CO2 in the air, not less. Global warming is a fraud and Al Gore should be in jail.
Maxx on July 25, 2008 at 9:33 AM
All CO2? Which would destroy all vegetation on Earth? Er, no. Some CO2, to return to pre-industrial levels and see if that makes a difference to the climate? Sure, why not?
Allahpundit on July 25, 2008 at 9:34 AM
When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old ice core data, no other suspects.
The evidence was not conclusive, but why wait until we were certain when it appeared we needed to act quickly? Soon government and the scientific community were working together and lots of science research jobs were created. We scientists had political support, the ear of government, big budgets, and we felt fairly important and useful (well, I did anyway). It was great. We were working to save the planet.
But since 1999 new evidence has seriously weakened the case that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming, and by 2007 the evidence was pretty conclusive that carbon played only a minor role and was not the main cause of the recent global warming. As Lord Keynes famously said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
Article.
Think of atmospheric CO2 as a 100 story building. Anthropogenic CO2 is the linoleum in the lobby. So, this is all great, but still accepts the lie that CO2 is a greenhouse gas and must be limited.
Remember when catalytic converters were mandated to turn emissions into “harmless CO2″?
Akzed on July 25, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Since bodies of water are the greatest source of Co2, I suggest we put tarps over all the earths oceans to keep it from escaping into the atmosphere.
Speakup on July 25, 2008 at 9:58 AM
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