First, I have a hard time believing this little girl sat down and
wrote the perfectly produced letter on her own. I believe she was
participating in a class project perpetrated by a teacher who is
probably telling the children about the outrageous skeptics that still
exist out there, even after that great visionary, Al Gore, has
provided us with all the facts. I can hear the teachers instructing
the class "let's write to those skeptics, and see how they crumble
under Al's logic."
I could be wrong, but I invite you to read the actual letter and
judge for yourself. Here it is:
I am a student at xxxx Elementary School in xxxxxx,xx. My
class watched the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," by Mr. Al Gore. The
movie told us that Al Gore goes around the world to many different
places and shows a slide show about global warming. I don't know if
you have seen his slide show, but it gives some very good evidence
about global warming. I read that you don't believe in global warming,
and I heard why you don't believe in it, but in my opinion, I think
global warming is real.
You know that the polar ice caps are melting, because the
temperature is rising. We learned that the greenhouse gases are
keeping all of the sun's rays inside the atmosphere. The rays bounce
off the ice caps like a mirror and back up out of the atmosphere. But,
whenever they bounce off the ice caps, they melt a little bit. So, if
more and more of the sun's rays are staying in the atmosphere, the
water will get warmer and warmer, and melt the rest of the ice caps,
because water takes in ninety percent of the ray's heat. So if there
was enough heat to make the water hot around the ice caps, the ice
caps will melt. If that happens to all the ice, like in Antarctica and
Greenland, the sea level will rise. If the sea level rises, then some
places will flood. After the terrorist attack, 9-11, they were going
to build a memorial for the people who lost their lives. If the sea
level rises, the World Trade Center Memorial would be under water.
There are many ways to help stop global warming. A few ways I have
learned are to change a regular lightbulb to a fluorescent
lightbulb. It would save tons of carbon dioxide from going into the
air. When people burn forests, it releases tons of carbon dioxide into
the air, making those greenhouse gases, which stop sunrays from going
back into the sun.
Natural disasters, like tornados, floods, droughts, and hurricanes
are getting worse every year. Al Gore said it was because the heat
from the oceans is getting hotter and hotter, making the hurricane's
velocity and moisture increase, making them more intense, just like
Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina wasn't that bad as it passed over
Florida, it was a factor 1 hurricane. But as Katrina went over the
ocean, the velocity and moisture increased, making it more and more
dangerous. That's why it did what it did to New Orleans.
Everyone has their own opinion, and yours might be that global
warming is one-hundred-percent not true. Al Gore's opinion is that
global warming is one-hundred-percent true. My opinion is, knowing
that our Winters are getting warmer and warmer; I would have to say
that global warming is true. I don't think it's exactly
one-hundred-percent true, like others might think, but learning from
Al Gore and seeing all the effects that global warming has had, I
would say that global warming is a big possibility. I would really
appreciate if you would respond to me, because I would like to know
what you think about it.
So do you think she wrote this letter on her own? I don't either.
But I did take the time to write her a response. Perhaps it will
help in some way to dilute the vile, one-sided, brain-numbing
education machine, and get a little truth into one classroom.
Dear Student
I thank you for your letter concerning my position on global
warming. It is so very important that young students, such as
yourself, learn there is more than one side to the global warming
argument. It is vital to understand that open debate and discussion is
not only important, but absolutely necessary in a free society.
Let me, however, clear up one point from your letter about my
position. I have not said that global warming doesn't exist - I
have said there is no conclusive evidence of "man" causing the
warming. Second, my position has been very clear concerning
"consensus" by scientists that man-made global warming is a fact. The
truth is there is no such consensus. There is a large group of
scientists from around the world, who, while acknowledging there is a
slight warming occurring, believe it is the result of very natural
causes, and nothing to be alarmed over.
Here are some reports from just a few the scientists who dispute
the position of Al Gore, and others, promoting the global warming scare:
- Scientists at Duke University, after careful examination, said,
"The magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of
current highest predictions."
- Dr. Richard Lindzen, atmospheric scientist at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), said that global warming is unlikely to
be a dangerous future problem.
- Dr. Fred Singer of the University of Virginia says there is no
evidence to support the man-made hypothesis.
Much of the misconception over the entire global warming issue
centers on the theory that carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
holds in the heat. Of course, the contention is that man produces the
CO2. Would it surprise you to learn that carbon dioxide, or CO2 is not
a pollutant, and is essential for us to live? It is important to note
that the volcano in the Philippines, Mt. Pinatubo, has erupted several
times during man's existence. Each time it spews more CO2 into the
atmosphere than ALL of the CO2 man has EVER put there - and it happens
EVERY time the volcano erupts. Clearly, man-made CO2 can have very
little impact on the atmosphere.
So what is causing the minor warming that is certainly taking
place? Science is now showing evidence of a regular 1,500-year cycle
of warming periods, followed by periods of cooling. As an example, the
evidence of such a 1,500-year cycle goes back to the Romans, who wrote
about growing grapes in England. Then, during the Dark Ages, it was
too cool to grow them. During the Medieval period, the Britons
themselves wrote about growing wine grapes - then for 650 years, it
was too cool.
Study shows that the Vikings started farms in Greenland. Then it
grew too cold, and their settlements died. There have been, in fact,
some 600 warming periods in the last million years. It's natural. More
evidence comes from study of ice cores in both Greenland and the
Antarctic.
Studies also show that sea levels have been rising - about 400 feet
- over the past 18,000 years. It's nothing new. In addition, it is a
falsehood to say Polar Bear populations are in decline. Quite the
opposite is true.
Yet, as I'm sure you've read and discussed in class, a new report
was just released by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) in which the news media reported that it said man-made
global warming is a fact. Would it surprise you to learn that the
scientific report hasn't even been released yet? In fact, that report
won't be released until next May. What was released to the news media
was a "summary" prepared for lawmakers and public officials. It
contained no scientific evidence for any of its claims about global
warming. This was done specifically to allow the news media to sound
the alarm and promote the global warming agenda.
It is important to know that the IPCC has a history of releasing
false and misleading reports on global warming. In a report released
by the IPCC in 1996, two vital paragraphs were left out. Those
paragraphs, written by the scientists who studied the global warming
issue, said:
- "None of the studies cited has shown clear evidence that we can
contribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse
gases."
- "No study to date had positively attributed all, or part, of the
climate changes ... to man-made causes."
Yet, after that 1996 report was released (without these two vital
paragraphs), the news media (and Al Gore) used it to declare that
global warming was a real threat to the world. There is little hope
that the new study, no matter what the science shows, will fare any
better.
Finally, according to government statistics, there has been no
dramatic increase in Hurricanes in the past 35 years. The average
number of storms per year is about 28.5. So far, in the 2000s, there
has been an average of 25 storms per year. And, in 2006, storms were
almost non-existent. Hurricane Katrina did get stronger as it passed
over the Gulf of Mexico from Florida. That is a natural
occurrence. However, it was not Katrina which caused the major damage
in New Orleans. It has, in fact, been downgraded to a Category 3
storm, hardly out of normal range. The damage to the city occurred
when the levees broke, flooding the city. That was a result of
government not doing its job, allowing the levees to go into disrepair
- hardly a reason for the rest of the world to panic over "killer
storms."
The ocean temperatures do rise about every ten years, causing more
severe storms. That's because of a natural occurrence called El
Nino. And that's what we were experiencing in 2005 when such strong
storms hit our coasts.
So, if all of this is true, why do so many, like Al Gore, sound the
global warming alarm? Money and political power. It is a sad fact that
many people will spread such lies and fear for money and power. But it
has happened throughout history. Politicians don't always tell the
truth.
We have a saying in politics. "Follow the money." In other words,
to understand why some people do certain things, find out who is
getting paid, and why. Scientists who use climate change to explain
natural environmental changes receive massive grants from government,
private foundations, and even corporations. The U.S. government will
issue over $6.5 billion in grants in 2007. Politicians use global
warming as an excuse to create what we call "pork barrel" alternative
energy projects. That means they are able to put more than $14 billion
into the hands of friends or corporations, who in turn, donate to
their election campaigns. In all, there is more than $20 billion being
spent by government, foundations, corporations, and environmental
activist groups to promote the hysteria of global warming. Each has
either money or power to gain.
By the way, let me assure you that my organization has never taken
a dime from anyone trying to get me to promote my position on global
warming.
Meanwhile, there is a very frightening effort underway to silence
the "skeptics" of global warming. Some officials have even advocated
that those who oppose global warming hysteria should be arrested. To
do so would mean the end of free thought and free speech in the United
States.
Whether you agree with anything I've said about global warming,
surely you and your teachers would not support the jailing of people
who simply don't agree with your positions. To do so, would drive this
nation into a Dark Ages of fear and superstition, with everyone afraid
to speak out on any issue. Tyranny would rule us.
These are my answers to your questions. I am sorry that young
people like you are forced by school officials and politicians to bear
such heavy burdens on your shoulders. No one in elementary school
should have to suffer such fear in his or her young life.
Please don't worry. Global warming is not a horror that will
destroy the Earth. It is completely natural. We'll get used to the
warmer Winters and the longer growing seasons for our crops. The sea
levels will not swallow whole islands and the 9/11 Memorial in New
York will never be under water - I promise.
