Poll: Does General Aviation Have A Role In Addressing Climate Change?

I read an interesting article a while back stating that the world? pumps more fuel in a day than what general aviation pumps in a year.

That said, and I believe it, no matter what kind and type of fuel general aviation uses is not going to make much of a difference.

But try to tell this to the state of California and others that lead emissions are a pressing issue…

Remember when we used to pursue changes for the betterment of society instead of the danger of an imminent threat that was going to kill us all????

Well, me neither but my grandparents talked about it a lot.

When I was a kid in the early 70’s they told us a new ice age was coming. Then in the 80’s it was global warming. Now it’s just a generic “climate change”. The earth predates us, and it will outlast us. Let’s just enjoy our flying along the way.

I was no longer a kid in the early 70’s, but I remember warnings from experts starting in the ’60’s about CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and the possibility it could produce an accelerated heating of the Earth. Don’t recall serious experts saying a world-wide ice age was coming (there were articles on what a change in the Gulfstream might produce for northern Europe and the UK). The news this week that we’re experiencing, right now, the hottest it’s been since the end of the last Ice Age suggests that it might be a good idea to start taking those warnings seriously. The fact that 36 percent of the respondents to the survey say it’s all a hoax scares the hell out of me.

It’s not just those that consider it a hoax—add in the 21% that say the “carbon emissions are to small” —and you have nearly 2/3 of the respondents including me) that are non-believers in the theory—despite all the hype.

It has been said “It only takes two generations to change the world “—for right now—the existing generation isn’t buying what the “Chicken Little”—“The sky is falling” theory.

So typical and predictable – the bashing and name-calling of those who prefer to absorb media-based information rather than do the research. Look up the climatic data – the mid 1930 still take the prize. And the Center for Climate Change is basing their information “since they were formed in 1979.” The ‘70’s were some very cold years; I lived through and dealt with them. And yes, the magazines of the day (Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, etc) had many articles on the “experts” decrying the upcoming ice age. They were believed to be a credible as today’s. Yes, climate IS changing, and always has been, as everything in nature is cyclic.
We now have “excessive heat warnings” issued when the temps go beyond the 90’s. It used to be “ hey, it’s gonna be hot today!” Terrible heat in PHX – over 110. But in years gone by planes sat waiting for it to cool a bit because temps were off the charts at 120. We smuggly make assumptions because we have been on this ball of dirt for a few years, as an old movie line “like two fleas arguing over who owns the dog.” Weather is and will change, both ways, long after we are all but dust.

Sure the climate is always going to change, but the rate of change is what’s problematic.
I don’t understand the hand waiviness of “the world predates us and will outlast us argument”. It is completely true, but I don’t think it’s particularly relevant. In my mind, being concerned over what’s happening on the Earth because of what we’re doing to it shows interest in trying not to cause additional suffering for living things. Sure animals (like that polar bear that somehow became the poster child for the warming arctic, but that most people can’t actually find a connection with), but more relevant to us humans, is trying not to cause additional suffering for our fellow humans. Not caring that what we’re doing might be causing additional suffering for other living things is generally troubling, and when it applies to not caring if one causes harm to other humans it is clinically called “sociopathic”. Now I’m not saying everyone who uses this argument is necessarily a sociopath, but maybe the thought hasn’t quite been followed to its conclusion in the minds of those who do use it.

Any good will and trust in the “science” was totally destroyed by the Corona virus pandemic. Initially modeling was used to demagogue and silence peoples opposing viewpoints. Apparently, the “science” isn’t settled.

Climate (not weather) always changes by definition. Everything in nature is a cycle. We may be experiencing a slightly warmer trend now, but that does not mean that the temperatures will spiral out of control and burn up the planet.

When the NWS can’t predict the precise location of a hurricane more than 72 hours out, you want us to believe they can predict the warming of the planet in the year 2100. NFW.

“When we invest in clean energy and electric vehicles and reduce population, more of our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water,” Vice President of the United States of America Kamala Harris said during a speech at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland July 14, 2023.