Kool-Aid’s global warming flavor

Mickey McVay October 24th, 2012

Robin Meyers (Commentary, “An embarrassment of a senator,” Oct. 3, Oklahoma Gazette) can be foolish enough to drink the man-made global warming Kool-Aid if he wants, but he would be well advised to take some courses

Every fellow graduate geologist I know believes that Mother Nature plays, by far and away, the most important role with regard to the fate of our planet and universe. This is especially evident before man made his appearance.

Now then, Robin may have 16,000 ministers, movie actors and Occupy Wall Street types supporting his view, but I have seen (and signed) a petition containing signatures of more than 16,000 degreed scientists in such fields as chemistry, astrophysics, geology, astronomy and so forth, who do not believe man is causing global warming.

People like Robin can cause severe economic harm and hardship for their fellow human beings if their rants are followed before they are exposed for following false prophets.

Haste makes waste, and foolish decisions need to be avoided before all of the facts are evaluated with regard to man-made global warming or other environmental concerns.

—Mickey McVay, Edmond

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11.08.2012 at 09:46 Reply

BrandonW

Not to discount Mickey McVay’s environmental education, but his comment “Kool-aid’s Global Warming Flavor” has left a bad taste in my mouth. Reason being, he has previously identified himself as having been an “Oily” (see An ‘Oily’ Response – February 18^th, 2010), as in, one who works in the oil industry.

This tells me that McVay, while he may have a background in environmental studies; he also has a predisposition to defend an industry that is his livelihood. This makes his perspective about as reliable as an Asbestos salesman telling me that all those cancer studies are taken out of context.

Of course, to his credit, the man he’s taking shots at; Robin Meyers, is likely no more versed in Environmental Impact than your average Minister. Meyers’ language may have been harsh but it was not biased by the need for personal gain, that tends to tip this reader’s favor in his direction.

Mickey’s own agenda is easily qualified by his comment “People like Robin can cause severe economic harm and hardship for their fellow human beings if their rants are followed before they are exposed for following false prophets.”

That statement implies that in one swift move mankind will cease the operation of a 100 year old infrastructure and immediately begin using a new one simply because of a couple hippies. Only the ethos of the masses can dictate change, and it will not happen overnight. He need not fear his industry collapsing.

I can’t help but feel that McVay is being short sighted when viewing the relationship between climate change and the industry he holds dear. Even if he’s right, the one thing he cannot attest to is the unlimited nature of petroleum and it’s byproducts. Because oil is in everything from plastics to pesticides, it’s in our interest to make it last as long as possible. That doesn’t mean that his industry dies, if anything it means it lives longer. A shift to vehicles that run on renewable energy might not change what’s happening in our environment, but it will ensure we have oil to produce the things we need in the future; everything from Artificial limbs to ZipLock bags.

McVay goes on to say “Haste makes waste, and foolish decisions need to be avoided before all of the facts are evaluated with regard to man-made global warming or other environmental concerns.”

I actually agree with this statement. The foolish decision is the one where we waste a vital, extremely versatile and necessary product by dumping it into the tanks of our cars. Even if we could conclusively prove that there were no environmental impact from burning fossil fuels, we cannot ignore the precious and limited nature of this commodity We must do everything in our power to make it last as long as possible.

The Kool-aid analogy isn’t a fair one, this isn’t Jonestown. Robin Meyers and people like me only want the preservation of life. There’s no cyanide in our Kool-aid, just a desire to help the future of humanity. I don’t believe that fully exploiting a limited resource does anything other than leave us ill prepared for when that resource becomes scarce. Sometimes great discussions happen over a drink, why can’t that drink be Kool-aid?