As many of you know, I voted for the other guy. Not so much for him as his running mate, who was much stronger but not adequately prepared.
Anyway, I think it is good for the pres to reach out to other nations. Where I disagree with Obama is his view on AGW (anthroprogenic global warming) and his solution, the cap and trade, as well as the G-8 summit to limit CO2.
Please forgive me for introducing some science but it will help explain my position. CO2 is not the greenhouse gas most people think it is. CO2 only absorbs and re-emits at 3 frequencies. And because the two isotopes, CO2-12 and 13, are so stable, it only does this for a limited interval, becoming "saturated" and no longer capable of contributing heat. CO2 does not cause temp increase, it follows it. This is evident, even in Gore's "hockey stick" graph borrowed directly from Mann. In fact, CO2 increases on average, 800 years after temp increases. If we decrease our CO2 emissions, as America, by 80 percent by 2050, we will have theoretically, and I do mean theoretically, have limited temp rise to a fraction of a fraction of 1 percent. That is about .002 C. In essence, none at all.
There has been no warming since 2000 and there has been stasis and cooling, with the last two years being remarkably cooler. In fact, in two years, the global temp has returned to what it was in 1979.
What heats the atmosphere is solar activity. Solar Cycle 23 was half of 22. Solar cycle 24 has yet to start, placing the Sun's activity below the Dalton Minimum. The Dalton Minimum was responsible for the Little Ice age, of which 1816 was the coldest part, with the highest temp in August in North Carolina of 40 F. It was the year without a summer. Over 600 scientists, including John Christy, formerly lead author of the IPCC report, have removed their support of the IPCC reports.
Antarctica has been growing thicker in snow and ice sheets by feet per year. 95 percent of the glaciers have been growing thicker. And no, we are not killing the polar bears. They now number 25,000, thanks to endangered status. They have survived eons of warm periods that were several degrees warmer than today. They don't need the cold and ice to survive. They need fish and seals.
For goodness sake, Dickinson, North Dakota had 6 inches of snow. In June. Last week or so, thanks to rain and a cool front, I had a local high of 79 F. In July. In Texas.
Nature operates on negative feedback. Clouds (water vapor) is the real greenhouse gas. It can hold heat in but also reflects heat back out to space.
Yet Obama wants to tax the coal industry out of business and has said so in interviews. The monstrous tax to be placed on coal and gas fired electrical plants will double your rates and it will make easy power unaffordable for developing countries, such as Ghana. He may feel for them but this G-8 policy will keep them in the 3rd world.
Not only does Obama not seem ready to study the real science, instead of computer models that are grossly flawed and mostly debunked, but he will not support nuclear power, which is nearly, carbon free, not counting the construction process.
I want him to do well and I understand the desire for unity and tolerance and those are great things, indeed. But driving us broke is not the way to do it. And keeping the developing nations from developing won't help, either. Now, someone will come along and say, "what about solar power?"
Average costs for installing a solar power system are about $23,000, cash, to you, the average consumer. And it won't provide for all your needs. A free clinic in Africa has solar power. They can run the fridge or the t.v. But not both. What do you mean you can't afford $23k? Well, neither can I. And there will be massive lay-offs and a bankruptcy of the unemplyment benefits programs when the people who work for regular power companies lose their jobs. And the people they can no longer afford to buy stuff from lose their jobs.
Wind power also has low return for action received. The wind does not blow constant enough to generate stable power. It is also expensive to to install. Just look at T. Bon Pickens and his now defunct power company. He can't afford the units he's ordered and there's more to building transmission lines than just talking about it, something he learned the hard way.
Upshot is, if you want to help countries like Ghana, give up the AGW religion.
Obama has a great reponsibility at a crucial time in history, just as crucial as Bush had with 9-11. I hope he does the right thing. Though we may disagree on what the right thing is.