Comments Tina Rhea has made

Global Warming not comparable to CFC campaign

Yes, scientific evidence finally got restrictions on CFCs passed, despite the chemical industry's massive campaign to paint ozone depletion as "junk science".

But CFCs were produced by a small number of companies, though they were large and influential.  CO2 and other climate-changing gases are being produced daily not only by industry-- pretty much ALL industries-- but also by everyone who drives a car, burns wood, or uses most forms of electricity.

Garrett Hardin, in a classic essay, called it "The Tragedy of the Commons"-- adding to the problem makes my future or my children's future a little worse, but it enhances our lives right now by what seems like a lot more, so we all keep on doing it until the system crashes.

I would love it if the campaign against climate change could be as successful as quickly as the campaign against CFCs, but the targets are vastly more diffuse.

See Hardin's article at, among other sources, http://dieoff.org/page95.htm, or a Wikipedia summary at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons  .On What we can learn from anti-smoking advocates posted 3 years, 6 months ago 7 Responses