If you think global warming is a hoax, are you an idiot?

[notyoueither]

There are ways to generate electricity without burning fossil fuels (hydro power, geothermal, and nuclear power all come to mind) but those mostly rely upon being in the right geographic space (a country with a large river valley which can be damed or which has a high geothermal heat gradient) or are more expensive. Obviously, they're going to need fossil fuel fired power plants to raise living standards but making them/encouraging them to adopt best practice (WRT to pollution & efficiency) can help as can making use of alternatives such as wind or solar for part of the solution.

There are geo-thermal heated buildings in the Northern most major city in North America. It gets very cold, but it works without a volcanic island.

[Dinner]

Is it really impossible to industrialize without burning lots and lots of coal?

No, though coal is dirt cheap so it is the easiest way to do it. Brazil has managed to industrialize while minimizing coal imports (they don't have much in the way of coal mines either); they have built massive amounts of hydroelectric dams and recently have come up with some impressive oil and gas deposits off shore.

[Dinner]

There are geo-thermal heated buildings in the Northern most major city in North America. It gets very cold, but it works without a volcanic island.

Yes, all you need is a decent heat gradient so even in areas without plentiful geothermal heat levels it can be done though generally you have to dig pipelines deeper to get a sufficient difference in heat to get the water flowing. I know the best geo-thermal systems (and the earliest) require water to boil and then use the steam to run a turbine though you can rely upon warm and cold water (cold water sinking, hot water rising) and use the water to spin a wheel or turbine. The second option is much more expensive though and doesn't generate as much electricity.

[giblets]

Rick Santorum told Colorado Springs supporters Tuesday that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich would be ineffective challengers to President Barack Obama in the general election because of their views on cap and trade.

"Let's go to cap and trade. Governor Romney proudly announced that they were the first state, Massachusetts, to put a cap on CO2 emissions in the state of Massachusetts," Santorum told more than 100 supporters here.

Santorum also dinged Gingrich for filming a climate change ad with Nancy Pelosi, something Gingrich - as recently as yesterday - has admitted was a mistake. Both Gingrich and Santorum appeared at a Colorado energy conference on Monday.

"Speaker Gingrich has supported cap and trade for more than a dozen years. Now, he wants business incentives to go along with cap and trade, but he supported cap and trade, and sat on the couch with Nancy Pelosi and said that global warming had to be addressed by Congress," Santorum said. "Who is he or who's Governor Romney to be able to go after President Obama? I've never supported even the hoax of global warming."

Romney and Gingrich, Santorum said, "bought into the science of man-made global warming, and they bought into the remedy, both of which are bogus."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/02/santorum-i-never-believed-global-warming-hoax-113739.html

Santorum denies the existence of man-made global warming, calling it "patently absurd" on Rush Limbaugh's radio show in June. "It's just an excuse for more government control of your life, and I've never been for any scheme or even accepted the junk science behind the whole narrative."

He reiterated this sentiment to Glenn Beck on Fox News later that month. "There is no such thing as global warming," he said. Later in the interview, he said that the United States should "drill everywhere."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/rick-santorum-global-warming-hoax_n_1260168.html#s511842&title=Rick_Santorum

Wow...

I hope the Republicans nominate this lunatic!

[Dinner]

Everyone but Reg says, yes, so I can only guess he was trying to be ironic or just contrary.

[Thorn]

Indeed, which is why we're so lucky that dinosaur outbreak didn't spread beyond the island..

You sure about that?

-As far as global warming goes, it is a natural cyclictic event, we may of sped it up some, but that justs means we're that much closer to the ice age again, and we are burning off all our fossil fuels, sounds like a great idea to keep warm.