Once more we have a guest post from Larry Hodgden

Larry is a retired Viet Nam era veteran of the USAF. He and his wife of 40 years, Sharon, have three children and seven grandchildren who keep him very busy. Family, education, church and politics have been a lifelong passion.

Farmer holding drought-stressed corn

It began in earnest in 1988, the last really hot year prior to this one. It was called the Global Warming Theory and now in spite of a rise in our earth’s temperature, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, disappearing marine and mammal life, droughts, floods and all the rest, it’s still called a “theory”. No matter the evidence some things are always going to be called “theories”, like gravity for example.

Scientists had found that we were producing greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels and that was making the earth warmer. There was little dispute over this fact but there was a lot of dispute over what to do or even the need to do anything. Intelligent humans, which we claim to be, were soon divided into two camps.

One camp found merit in the scientific findings and felt a responsibility to the future of earth to change our habits. There were plenty of solutions available like increasing mileage standards in automobiles, solar and wind generation of electricity instead of coal, public transportation and renewable fuels. Today there are even more alternatives such as natural gas for vehicles and generation of electricity, compact fluorescent bulbs and high efficiency appliances and windows. This group proposes investment in these solutions and is represented by Democrats in Congress.

The other camp found it in their interest to dismiss the science and stand in the way of every effort to reduce our use of fossil fuels. Even today they oppose investment in wind generation at the expense of jobs in Iowa. They have fought against every effort to increase mileage standards and to decrease fossil fuel use. This group opposes investment in solutions and is represented by Republicans in Congress.

All this is in spite of the fact that we have been held hostage for 40 years by the Middle East for our supply of oil. We are sending billions of our dollars every day to some sheik in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere so they can hold their citizens hostage to their extreme ideology. We are contributing to their abusive treatment of women and their intolerant religious schools teaching hatred for our life and freedoms. This did not have to be.

You don’t have to be very astute to recognize that even if the scientists were all wrong and global warming was a myth, it would have been in our best interests to cut our “umbilical cord” to the Middle East. Kind of makes you wonder about the motives of these Republicans. Surely it had nothing to do with their wealthy friends in the energy business. Those who blindly follow the “Party” line should ask themselves: “What If We Are Wrong?”