Gary Sadler: Climate change: Not a hoax

To suggest that human involvement in global warming is a global hoax perpetrated by politicians and the renewable energy industry as done by Martin Hertzberg in his commentary “More on the climate-change hoax” (Nov. 17) is like saying that assertions that cigarettes cause cancer is a plot by politicians and the health care industry to extort money from big tobacco. This piece should be given no more credibility than it deserves. There's a reason why Hertzberg has not been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Who's to say that he isn't simply involved in this debate to draw attention to himself? Sounds more plausible to me than to suggest that the much wider community is collectively involved in some evil plot to destroy the economy.

But supposing for a second that I'm wrong, and the greater scientific community is wrong, both of which happen on a regular basis, what do we have to gain by taking his position and doing nothing? Is life as we know it and the future of our grandchildren worth risking for the sake of improving our economy? Not to me! Even if in a worst-case scenario our best efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions prove fruitless, at least we can say that we tried and will benefit from a cleaner world and more sustainable energy sources.