Amen to that, MB.

"the whole carbon footprint thing is Hollywood run amuck."

That is one view and not an unreasonable one, but there is another view and it is equally unreasonable.

The fact is the situation is a matter of different opinions based on an incomplete set of facts.

That's good, J.E.M. "Hollywood run amuck." We sure seem to be a "Nation of Sheep," as some author said. And far too many people have jumped on the "save the planet" band wagon for their own benefit.

I think that it is great that people consider our impact on Earth. Unfortunately, we are just people and are not omnipotent. We guess what might be going on and then test the hypothesis to see if it is correct. Global warming may be our doing, and one way to find out is to decrease our carbon dioxide output and see what happens. If correct and as little as 2 or 3 degrees Celsius increase on average has a significant impact on climate, we'd better start working on it now. The penalty for reducing carbon dioxide emissions unnecessarily is poorly spent money, and we'll do that anyway.

Global warning is a very political issue, which in itself, is something we have to look at skeptically. And, if Al Gore wasn't the squeekiest wheel in the environmental bunch I would agree that the sky is falling. Aren't we all a bit sick of the doom-sayers? My father is famous for saying, "When democrats stop manipulating the peoples' fear of the earth being destroyed just to make a buck, I'll be concerned about the environment." He started saying that during the Carter years when he was on 8 months of sick leave after crushing his leg. Some California tree hugger got everyone into a panic and suddenly everyone had to put these half-assed "Smog Devices" on their cars which barely made a difference in the air pollution - and being out of work for 8 months, we could have used that money elsewhere. As long as it makes a buck the instigators wont care how it affects the little guy.
I've done some research into the environment frenzy (Off hand I can't remember the names of my sources). A well-known professor at an Ivy-league college was granted money for a study into how fast the globe was warming. He was quickly stiffled when his report came back that the environment is warming at less then 1% each fifty years or so. He adds that this change in the environment is very insignificant, especially considering that man can adapt and change physically (Evolve) quicker than 1% every 50 years. So, either he is wrong or the entire theory of evolution is wrong. He agrees that, yes, the weather has been less predictable in the past few years, but historically the earth goes through these cycles.
Along with this, one has to look at his faith in a higher being. God made man in his own image, and he made the earth for the benefit and support of man. Of coarse there is a law-of-God that tells us that we shouldn't take more from the earth than what we need to survive, and this should be all the environmental policy we need. Not everyone obeys that law. History tells us this fact. But, "Consider the lillies of the field. They toil not, neither do they labor.....:" Doesn't the sun also shine on the sinners?
I think we need to worry more about the rapture, than Al Gore's worries.