Automotive Business Review February 2015 | Page 54

the fink Letters to the Editor I get many interesting comments from various sources, and I would love to share them with my readers, but since a lot of it is not really related to the motor industry, I let it be. But this e-mail I received from a reader in Australia really needs to be aired, because it does put a lot of environmental scaremongering in perspective. I’m pretty sure that D. Randle is not a pseudonym for Al Gore! And I would love further comment on this. Dear Fink day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50 cent light bulbs with $10.00 light bulbs...well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days. Professor Ian Plimer (a member of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Adelaide, and also a joint member of the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering) could not have said it better! If you’ve read his book you will agree this is a good summary: The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere in just four days - yes - FOUR DAYS ONLY by that volcano in Iceland, has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon. And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud any one time - EVERY DAY. I don’t really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in its entire YEARS on earth. Yes folks, Mt Pinatubo was active for over one year, think about it. Okay, here’s the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland, since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO₂ emissions on our planet, all of you. Of course you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress, that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow, and to synthesise into oxygen for us humans, and all animal life. I know, it’s very disheartening to realise that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up till midnight to finish your kid’s “The Green Revolution” science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home instead of abroad, nearly getting hit every Of course I shouldn’t spoil this touchy-feely tree-hugging moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the wellrecognised 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keep happening, despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change. And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years. And it happens every year. Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you on the basis of the bogus ‘’human-caused’’ climate change scenario. Hey, isn’t it interesting how they don’t mention ‘’Global Warming’’ any more, but just ‘’Climate Change’’ - you know why? It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bull artists got caught with their pants down. And just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading Scheme (that whopping new tax) imposed on you, which will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer. It won’t stop any volcanoes from erupting, that’s for sure. Yours in lucidity D. Randle | words in action 52 FEBRUARY 2015