Promote energy solutions using facts
Promote energy solutions with facts
I am writing in response to Michelle Stein’s Feb. 27 letter. Your position is that, because “our cars cause global warming and deadly air pollution,” we should become less dependent on oil. Furthermore, it is in our best interest to support the Illinois Independence from Oil Act.
Need I remind you that there is no agreement within the scientific community that either of your two premises quoted above are valid?
In regard to the first, cars cause global warming, let me reference two recent sources that disagree: Climate Confusion by Roy Spencer and Heaven and Earth by Ian Plimer. Roy Spencer, formerly a senior scientist for Climate Studies at NASA, is co-developer of the original satellite method for precise monitoring of global temperatures from earth-orbiting satellites. His book points out the fallacy of using computer models to forecast global temperature changes based upon “greenhouse” gases. Professor Plimer of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Adelaide, Australia, points out the inaccuracies due to both statistical uncertainty and the possibility of using “cherry-picked” data in the information promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His book was published well before it became known that certain email messages were deliberately biased.
In regard to your second premise associating cars with deadly pollution, it is easily substantiated that gasoline exhaust pollutants from our newest automobiles have been reduced by more than 95 percent. Similar gains have been made for diesel engine exhaust from on-highway vehicles, and “Tier 4” technology for off-road vehicles is being implemented currently.
While I am all for developing new technology for energy sources beyond fossil fuels, I do not support governmental funding for technology that is neither economical nor dependable. Solyndra was a bad idea regardless of whether it came from the Democrats or the Republicans.
Charles Glomski
Elk Grove Village