Moronic opinions on Greenhouse Gas emissions

So climate change and emissions are the big thing right now. That's fine. But the public is so hysterical and g0ddamned uninformed on the subject that newspapers are full of claims that are as ridiculous as in the early days of AIDS, when people thought you could get it from a water fountain. I didn't have to look very hard to find these two idiotic statements:

Toronto Star, 2/5/07: "If all vehicle owners showed up at a dealer's door tomorrow demanding smaller, more efficient cars, greenhouse-gas emissions could be reduced by 50 per cent within 12 months."

San Francisco Chronicle, 2/6/07: "the thought of turning my key in the ignition makes me physically ill."

Before we go out and all buy Priuses or bicycles, let's get a few things straight:

• Emissions from personal vehicles account for barely 10% of the total
  
• 70% of emissions come from mining and smelting, manufacturing, energy generation and oil and gas production
  

Even if the entire country started riding their bikes and carpooling, we'd be hard-pressed to reduce total emissions given the rate of industrial growth. [Riding bikes and carpooling would put a dent in oil consumption, but that's a different issue.] And even if we reduced emissions 5%, so what? It's still too much, and the glaciers would keep melting. Real emissions reductions doesn't just mean putting hippies on bikes; it requires cleaning up or shutting down industry, likely with devastating economic effects. Who's got the balls to do that?

So if you're really concerned about global warming, step up to the plate and tell the truth: you can't fix the problem by walking to the grocery store.