Global Warming Fundamentalists... 1040

This doesn't seem like a particularly workable business model, given the kind of time periods involved and the uncertainties inherent in any model when you try to make predictions that specific.

And people are interested in alternative energy in large part because of the concern over global warming. There's a reason e.g. BP actually refers to its alternative energy business as its "low-carbon" energy business.

If it were discovered that global warming was all a sham, as you claim it is, these would be very unwise investments. These companies are evidently willing to stake billions on the fact that global warming is happening.

A drop-in replacement for gasoline in all circumstances, no, we haven't got that. But we do have the technology to replace fossil fuels for stationary energy generation and for most commuter driving.

I didn't claim that nobody had a clue tobacco was bad for people. I claimed that tobacco companies deliberately mislead people on the issue. If McDonald's started running ads tomorrow claiming that Big Macs prevented heart disease, would that be OK in your book, on the grounds that some people would know it wasn't true?

Nicotine is and addictive drug. It causes some fairly basic changes in brain chemistry. This is well established. Cigarette companies have recognized this for a long time, going so far as to describe their products as "nicotine delivery devices".

No, you don't suffer physical withdrawal symptoms, but you certainly suffer psychological withdrawal symptoms. I'm not sure why you've somehow decided that doesn't count.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." -- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005