Culture War Dispatches

from a Progressive People's Republic

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Irrational obsession with CO2

The Globe editorial "Carbon Capture, but then what?" points out that converting the Somerset facility to coal gas will reduce air pollution, including mercury and sulfur, but you urge the DEP to halt this good project because the details haven't been perfectly worked out for capturing and sequestering CO2 emissions. One might say that this illustrates the maxim that the perfect is the enemy of the good, but I'm not convinced that the goal of capturing carbon is worthwhile. There is very good evidence that increases in CO2 lag behind increases in temperature by 800 to 2000 years; i.e., increased CO2 does not lead to global warming--global warming leads to increased CO2. An irrational obsession with CO2, a non-toxic gas necessary for plant life, should not obstruct valid efforts to reduce air pollution.