I just got the email saying that a group of Oberlin students, faculty, and alumni are proposing that Oberlin divest of all fossil fuel companies.

I believe this is a big mistake.

Despite all the propaganda that CO2 is a danger to the planet, the scientific facts say otherwise.  CO2 is a harmless trace gas that helps plants grow.  We need more of it not less.

Dr. Richard Lindzen at MIT, who spoke at Oberlin about this some years ago, and thousands of top scientists around the globe all agree that so-called greenhouse gases are not a problem.

We should promote the use of coal, oil, and gas---especially coal as it is plentiful and can be burned cleanly.

The global warming side uses computer models that have never been right.  Garbage in garbage out.

I would encourage everyone to do what you can to defeat this divestment proposal.

Dick Hobby

Dick Hobby is absolutely right. Current levels of CO2 are far below levels at the time of dinosaurs who lived in a lush green world from pole to pole. Yes, dinos were wiped out by an asteroid, but life has come back again and again without solar panels and lithium batteries.

I concur with what John Henretta recently posted on the Class of 1968 website:

Rather than divest in fossil fuels, it is much more effective to stop using fossil fuels. The College has made a major commitment in that direction with its geothermal project and similar actions. I think the College has a very strong environmental record. The large oil producers aren't coming to the market for new capital. Hence divestment simply means changing private owners and has only weak symbolic effect, especially as long as the oil companies are very profitable.

And I must disagree with Dick Hobby’s statement that “Dr. Richard Lindzen at MIT … and thousands of top scientists around the globe all agree that so-called greenhouse gases are not a problem." More than ten years ago, atmospheric researcher Christopher Bretherton was quoted in the New York Times saying that Lindzen is "feeding upon an audience that wants to hear a certain message, and wants to hear it put forth by people with enough scientific reputation that it can be sustained for a while, even if it's wrong science.”

Thanks Paul for your support of my ideas on global warming and CO2.

Tom: 

    Bretherton resorts to smear and this is a clear sign that he does not have the actual evidence but tries to remove Lindzen from any discussion  by this dirty tactic.

     In science the only thing that counts is evidence.  If you actually listened to Lindzen speak on global warming you would see he has it and Bretherton does not.

Dick

See this article from the Oberlin Review:  "Trustees Reject Immediate Divestiture, Move to Divest Gradually."  The Class of 1968's website commented, "It should be noted that the Fossil Fuel Working Group, which brought the matter to the Board of Trustees for consideration, was never asking for immediate divestment. Their call was to bring such a move in line with the College's goal of a zero carbon footprint by 2025. Oberlin now joins 74 other institutions of higher education and hundreds of other organizations in pledging to reduce or eliminate investment in fossil fuels."