Every so often, George Will writes a column that makes you wonder if wearing bow ties causes the brain to shrink to the size of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Then you watch Tucker Carlson and you become think, "Hmm…maybe an Altoid."
Today, Will ponders the notion that maybe Global Warming isn't such a bad thing. Hey, maybe it'll even be good for us. Yeah…and maybe a nuclear bomb going off in one of our cities will do wonders for urban redevelopment.
The way I think the argument should be made is something like this: Yes, we know there are some scientists who don't think Global Warming exists…and it may turn out to be a false alarm. We hope it'll turn out to be a false alarm. But this is way too serious to not start acting upon now. If a couple of visitors in your home smell smoke, you go investigate. You don't wait until you actually notice a wall erupt in flames to take some action.
At a party last year, I got into a debate with a pro-Bush guy who felt that even though it turned out Hussein didn't have the weapons we thought he might have, we couldn't take that chance. But then later, when the topic of Global Warming came up, the same guy seemed to think we can take that chance; that we don't need to act until it's a proven fact and it won't be a proven fact until the consensus among scientists is unanimous. Never mind that the consensus among scientists isn't even unanimous about whether Listerine kills germs.
The fellow was going on and on about how he hated environmentalists (he called them "eco-terrorists") who are always telling us that we need to save the rainforests and the endangered species and how that's all bunk because the ecology is exactly what it was thousands of years ago and it never changes. And all the time he was saying this, he was drinking bottled water.