Great article by Bob Herbert on the current effects of global warming. Forest fires. Alaska melting.

But the Bush administration does nothing except collect more soft money from the oil industry.

Wonder when the tourism industry is going to start pressing to do something, seeing how all the popular destinations are burning, brown in drought, or melting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/24/opinion/24HERB.html

Yes, and did you hear, the sky is FALLING!!!!

Do you mean Bob Herbert, the equal opportunity columnist?
Global warming is a hoax.

Let me see if I've got this right, Paul -

Bush administration is in the pockets of the oil industry, refuses to heed warnings about global warming. This drives wacko Forest Service ranger in Colorado over the edge, she starts fire to draw attention to situation.

Is that the connection??

Global warming is a given - even Bush now admits it. Some serious damage has already been done, and it's going to get
worse. Unfortunatley, our children are going to have to pay the price. I don't want to get to wound up - this is not the forum for it.

Hell, the earth has gone thru many catclysmic events over the ages that had nothing to do with humans and, guess what, it survived -- even thrived. We may not be the best caretakers of this planet, but Mother Nature has a way of taking care of herself IMHO.

Zootsi: Every generation pays the price for the mistakes of the previous generation(s), but also reaps the benefits of their successes. The next generation will be no different, so clam down.

The Bush administration/conservative Republican/big business cabal's attitude toward global warming has been grimly amusing. First, they insisted it did NOT exist. Then they insisted that it MIGHT exist, but there was no proof. Next they insisted that it DID exist, but it wasn't causing any real problems. Now they admit it DOES exist and it DOES cause problems, but it's too late to do anything about it! Hypocrisy carried to new heights (or depths).

Yellowstone was nice until the Clinton Administration took over.
They had 8 yrs to to do something and all we got were empty pic-a-nic baskets. Tourism being down has nothing to do with 9-11?

I think now I'd vote for Gore in 2004. It's time to at least contemplate doing something about this problem before it gets worse.

http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/agwcon.asp

Amen.

Tourism is dead due to the poor economy.Poeple don't say,hmmm,let's not go anywhere because of global warming.It's more like,damn,I'm out of a job & I can't pay the rent.

Actually, somewhere I heard that local (in-state) tourism is booming and tourism that depends on out-of-state travelers is what has been suffering.

Yes. If Al Gore won, all air would be clean as the water, no poverty, 102% of the people would be employed, peace on the entire planet, all driving solar powered cars, a big unlockable lock box and we'd all be living in one big Garden of Eden.
I hear tourism is down in the Garden of eden.

Actually, the other shoe is just now dropping on Bush's big tax cut for the rich. We're having our first deficits in over eight years and having a real problem paying on Medicare. Oh, well, at least the billionaires are happy.

Global warming isn't a hoax, but it's definitely another scare tactic the democrats like to pull out every 2 years, along with a variety of other things the republicans will do if elected: take away your social security, do nothing about prescription drugs for seniors, overturn abortion, etc. etc.

The key word in global warming is GLOBAL. We're not the only enemy here. Our policies are more advanced and our operations cleaner than many other countries. Even if we fixed everything in this country, what damage is the rest of the globe (as in global) doing: Europe, China, South America, etc.? The ice caps aren't melting because of only the U.S.

I can't wait for global warming, because it'll mean my crummy little apartment will be beachfront property!

Why is it that everything wrong with this country is because of the RICH? Who, for God's sake, do you think creates jobs in this country -- poor people???

Immigrants came to this country knowing that if worked hard, they had a chance to become rich and successful. Now all of a sudden, the Democrats have made everything about corporate greed and those "lucky" rich people. Bullsh*t!

Why is it that so many Democrats seem to have such a problem with logic and deductive reasoning?
Is it a unique flaw that causes them to become Democrats, or does being a Democrat slowly destroy one's ability to reason?

Betty, yes you are right. The planet will survive global warming, even if the oceans rise to cover most of the land. The question, however, is how long will the human race survive global warming. Duh.

And, as for the US not being "solely" responsible for the greenhouse effect, the US is the BIGGEST consumer of fossil fuels and has done by far the most damage to the environment, short of the decimation of the rain forests, for which the US can take some of the blame as well. We are also the only developed country not to sign the Kyoto Initiative. The rest of the modern world is taking global warming very seriously.

The fact that our current president and his sidekick have accumulated all their wealth in fossil fuels does put an interesting spin on our country's refusal to participate in reducing the effects of global warming.

Another Voice,
Australia, the world's largest coal exporter, opted out of Kyoto, so the US is not the only country that is choosing another way. From what I understand the US stated it would try to reduce emissions by itself, without being obligated to Kyoto.

As for the doomsday scenario, it's easy to try to win converts to your cause by claiming the rise in global temperatures means the apocolypse is on the horizon. Rational scientific inquiry is another thing. The earth has undergone much more drastic changes in the past.