CO2 Is Green

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Peter L. Gray

I was watching television Sunday night when a political ad comes on urging viewers to "contact their Senators today" to oppose Congressional efforts to regulate CO2.  Having seen a number of these before, it barely registered - except when midway through the piece, the voice over states "In fact higher CO2 levels than we have today would help the Earth's ecosystem and support more plant and animal life."  Wait a minute, is this one of those joke commercials from Saturday Night Live?  Nope, it is the work of a new campaign by an interest group that goes by the name "CO2 Is Green."  The group seeks to challenge the lies being pushed by those foolish climate scientists, those silly PhDs, who seem to believe that rising levels of atmospheric CO2 is causing climate change.  If you peruse the "CO2isgreen.com" website, you will laugh and cry at the same time.

Here are a few gems from their "Science" web page:

  • "CO2 is not a pollutant."  In support of this assertion, the group claims:  "As humans emit CO2 when we breathe, it is illogical to assert that CO2 is a direct health hazard." Nobody claims that CO2 is a direct health hazard; rather it is the propensity of CO2 and other greenhouse gases to absorb and emit infrared radiation -- the so-called greenhouse effect -- that is hazardous.
     
  • "Eliminate CO2 and human life ceases to exist."  This is of course true.  Plants take in CO2 and respire oxygen, which is essential to human life.  That said, nobody in Congress is trying to "eliminate" CO2.  Rather, the goal of Congressional action is to lower the atmospheric concentration of CO2 and thereby reduce the heating of the planet caused by the greenhouse effect.  (Duh!)

And who is behind "CO2 is Green"?  Leighton Steward.  No, Mr. Steward is not a meteorologist, nor climate scientist, nor is he even a long-time student of climate change.  He has simply decided that he understands climatology better than those who have made the subject their life's work.  According to a September 25, 2009 report in the Washington Post, Steward - a former oil industry executive - has joined forces with Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., a Houston-based owner of coal resources that lets other companies mine his property in exchange for royalties.  Robertson and Steward have formed two interest groups, "Plants Need CO2" and "CO2 is Green," with Robertson providing about $1 million in funding.

You will search in vain for actual science as references for the many astounding quotes that litter CO2isgreen.com.  Mostly, you will find cross-references to the companion website for "PlantsNeedCO2.com."  Although the internet is filled with similarly baseless opinions of climate deniers, few have the resources to broadcast their hokum on network television.  This stuff is going mainstream.  I wonder what George Will thought when he saw the ad.
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