Doomsayers will exact cost on us all

I just read the opinion pieces on manmade global warming by Ellen Goodman and Cal Thomas (Daily Herald, Dec. 31).

Mr. Thomas cited many facts and figures while Ms. Goodman attempted to make me feel guilty for being an American.

Even when she cited the immense emissions produced by China, she concluded it was our fault because "we are China's biggest customer and their worst role model."

The Herald left out some of Mr. Thomas's column. Here is one important sentence. "Before adopting any faith, the agendas of the people attempting to impose it, along with the beliefs held by them and their disciples, should be considered."

Mr. Al Gore, who is now worshipped by the left and has become quite wealthy, will no longer debate the issue. When asked, he only says the debate is over. Really?

Well, many of us realize that if you control all carbon output, you control the lives of everyone on the planet. We want to hear all sides before we give up our quality of life by government edict.

Isn't it interesting that the climate alarmists came up with CO2 emissions as the be-all, end-all of climate change. Any climate scientist will tell you that the earth's climate is incredibly more complex than that.

Those of us old enough, can still remember the global cooling scare of the '70s. I suppose that Mr. Gore and his disciples will go the way of all prophets of doom, but at what cost to all of us in the next couple of decades?

Do we really want to impose a huge tax on our economic engine, drastically change our way of life, all based on incomplete data taken from a 25-year slice of time on an Earth that is 4.3 billion years old?

Richard Armour

Arlington Heights