Re: Where do you get those ideas from Mike?
"Scientists don't model our contribution to climate change, they measure it."
How come they continually bang on about their climate models then? Also, they keep predicting what will happen in x years time. How do they do that without models? Science is all about models. Anything else is unscientific.
"Atmospheric temperature rises have slowed for the last decade or so because of successive La Ninas and a couple of big volcanic eruptions that tend to lower temperatures, but atmospheric temperature is only just over 2% of the planet."
Has someone actually proven this hypothesis? No, thought not. They are saying La Ninas and eruptions etc. are causing this, but to prove it, they need to wait for one to occur and then succsessfully predict using models (earlier point again) what will happen and be proven right when it does. Anyone can keep amending a model according to observations, but until you successfully predict using the model, you haven't proved it.
"It's also WRONG to claim natural gas is environmentally sound."
I never said it was. I just said that by using it, the USA have reduced their CO2 output from electricity generation for the first time. Therefore, one can argue it is less bad than say coal. I never said it was environmentally sound, but then nothing is. Even windfarms are just less damaging, not non-damaging. They do, after all, require environmentally unsound processes (such as concrete) to build etc. Even windfarms put CO2 into the atmosphere during manufacture.
"What would be good would be for subsidies to be taken off the fossil fuel industries and diverted to finding alternatives"
Perhaps you could provide a reference for this, as to my knowledge, all the subsidies are heading the other way at the moment. You might like to look at your energy bills (if in UK), as they often show the 'environmental levy' on them!!
"Breakthroughs in solar electricity generation are coming all the time and there are many ways to avoid using fossil carbon."
Yes they are. However, nothing at the moment can provide anywhere near the same generation capability and reliability. When they do, great, but that's a long way off.
"We will have to eventually, lets do it before we wreck the planet."
Finally, something you're right on!! I absolutely agree. But lets try and not put everyone back into caves in doing so.