I heartily applaud the Trail Times for publishing the editorial cartoon entitled “Thousands of things we use everyday made from oil” (Trail Times, Nov. 22). With politicians encouraging the transition from hydrocarbon fuels to renewable energy, it is important we recognize the deprivations, if not the grinding poverty, we will have to endure in a carbon-free economy.
This energy transition is driven by the false narrative that we must fight climate change by restricting the generation of carbon dioxide (“CO2”) from hydrocarbon fuels (aka “fossil fuels” - coal, oil, and natural gas). Politicians fail to mention that Canada’s role would be meaningless simply because our share of the world’s CO2 (aka “carbon”) emissions is a meager 1.6 per cent.
Contrary to the climate-alarmist message, the benefits of adding CO2 to the atmosphere far outweigh any unproven climate risks. The sustainability of plant and animal life is critically dependent upon the availability of CO2 that is stored in the oceans and atmosphere.
It is well documented that the store of CO2 in ancient times was massive compared to the current, seriously-depleted store. What happened to all the planet’s CO2?
An examination of the planet’s carbon inventory reveals that most of the planet’s CO2 was consumed to form the sedimentary rocks (e.g. limestone) found in the Earth’s crust. The CO2 available to support carbon life forms was severely reduced (99.96 per cent) to a dangerously low level (atmospheric CO2 – 0.04 per cent).
This sequestration of CO2 is an ongoing process, which has the potential to terminate the planet’s Green Period.
The planet’s carbon inventory also reveals that CO2 emissions from all reserves of hydrocarbon fuels will not materially replenish the store of CO2. Unfortunately, the atmosphere will remain CO2 impoverished (0.04 per cent to 0.05 per cent).
Inappropriately named “green” government policies must be denounced because they are anti-green (i.e. anti-CO2). These policies have the capacity to destroy our modern lifestyle and the potential to be counter-productive in sustaining life on the planet.
Thorpe Watson, PhD
Warfield