Granted, this link goes to a view held by a 'celeb', but Pat Sajak is every bit as qualified as, for instance, Sheryl Crowe.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19357

If we can remove co2 from the atmosphere would plants die?

Mr Branson may be well intentioned but i'll bet he reailizes that a system or machine to remove co2 from the atmosphere is not comming soon if at all. It a safe bet that he'll be keeping his 25 mil.

The antics of GW proveyors is getting quite commical.

Excellent point by Pat Sajak (doesn't matter who made the point). These true believers are nothing but full of hot socialist air. If the disaster is so near, why haven't they stopped all of their own personal activity that may contribute to the "disaster-to-be?"

Oh, how Accuweather has slipped. And where is the humility? Between the NWS, Accuweather, Weather Channel and the like, they can hardly predict yesterday's weather, yet to predict climate 1 mo., 1 yr, 100 yrs from now is total hubris. The stupidity and arrogance of it all.

Doesn't "Sir" Richard Branson have anything better to do with his money? Like maybe putting it back into his corporations? Like paying the salaries of his employees? This is the beef I have with these people. Branson is a proprietor of an airline. An industry that burns up how many tons of fuel (greenhouse gases?) into the atmosphere a year? An industry that he has profited from greatly! (oooh, there's that ugly word again! PROFITS! Heavean forbid!) Mr. Branson, take your money and invest it elsewhere! And stop boring us with your publicity stunts and hypocrisy.

To be honest, Abe, we're not doing any climate prediction here. We report on what's done elsewhere. As for weather, that we do forecast.

>Alan K:
>If we can remove co2 from the atmosphere would
>plants die?

Thats a very good point Alan. Someone ought to remind them that most of the things we eat are plants. What effect will this have on worldwide food production? Less food = more starvation, most of which would be in the 3rd world. Why do these global warming cultists want people in the 3rd world to starve???

And will Branson re-emburse all the farmers for their lower crop yeields as a result of people using his CO2-scrubbing machine?

It seems to me that the 25 million would be much better spent keeping the CO2 out of the atmosphere - than cleaning it up once it is in the atmosphere. You have talked about energy efficiency quite a few times - consider what 25 million (spent efficiently) could do in terms of demand reduction.

Alan and MG - The point is not to remove all the carbon dioxide from the air - just some of it. A fraction of what we've put in, from the statistics I quoted from the article.

snooj - Very true, but Branson does put his money where his mouth is - he's investing all the profits (estimated at $3 billion) from his air and rail businesses over the next 10 years into developing clean fuels.

Oh, and Oiznop - if you read the article I linked, you see that Branson says if he stopped running his airline tomorrow, British Airways would just step in and fill the gap. It's that darn economic growth again.

I spent a few years on board nuclear subs. We remained submerged for months by making our own atmosphere and by "scrubbing" the CO2 from the boat.
Ponder this, suppose a jet liner could be fitted with a scrubbing device powered by air flow that would remove greenhouse gases, albeit on a very small scale, multiplied my literally millions of flights at high altitude over a period of years. It just might make a difference. What say you?

Let's say global warming is a hoax like some skeptics think. What is wrong with cleaning up our atmosphere? I don't think it is possible to remove the greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. I agree with snooj, the 25 million would be better spent reducing the continuous pumping of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. We've stripped at least a billion trees from the Amazon rain forest. Let's start by building homes with metal studs and reducing our wood usage. Let's start by recycling. Let's start by carpooling more or driving more fuel efficient vehicles. If everyone did their part, we'd could all breathe a bit easier. The internal combustion engine needs to go the way of the dinosaur. surely a society that can put a man on the moon can figure out how to make a clean car. Let's put our money there. Not in scrubbing the atmosphere. As well intentioned as these people are (if they are well intentioned and just not out to get their names in the paper) the earth can heal itself if we give it a chance. I'm concerned with what effect our attempts to "heal" our planet will have on the delicate balance of nature. We need to be careful to not make the cure the cause of something worse.

We need a leader to step up and challenge our nation again. We need to pull together to make change happen. I believe it can happen. I would like to see America take the forefront in this cause. When politicians stand up and make speeches and throw out numbers like 20% or whatever, that they have no intention of fulfilling, nor would they have a clue how to fulfil if they were intending on doing it, nothing will be accomplished.

Give us a leader who will inspire us all to do our part. inspire us to take responsibility for our own actions. If each of us did our part to restore this planet, we would be better stewards of the resources God gave us. I don't think it's a coincidence that God commanded us to be the caretakers of the earth.

Josh K

Branson says if he stopped running his airline tomorrow, British Airways would just step in and fill the gap. It's that darn economic growth again.

REPLY: Yep, irony can be pretty ironic sometimes!

Branson is nothing but a publicity hound. I'd use a different word than hound, but I know it wouldn't get posted.

Josh K: There is nothing wrong with wanting to clean up the air, but if you want to be effective, the best way to do it is for all the third world and developing countries to become wealthy enough to afford pollution controls. Capitalism is the best way to do that. So if you want to help, do something to support a business in some third-world cesspool.

Hey Josh:

The internal combustion engine needs to go the way of the dinosaur.

REPLY: Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Ozone Al Gore's family profit from the advent of the combustion engine????.....;-D.....Oh the hypocrisy of these people is just oozing from all four corners, isn't it?........

Let's say global warming is a hoax like some skeptics think.

REPLY: Which it is.

What is wrong with cleaning up our atmosphere?

REPLY: Nothing! The atmosphere has never been cleaner. Especially in the United States. Tell it to the countries that signed the Kyoto treaty.

Let's start by building homes with metal studs and reducing our wood usage.

REPLY: Hey, I know, why not use metal tablets and reduce paper usage too! Try using a role of sheet metal in the bathroom, Josh, and tell me what happens!....;-).....

Let's start by carpooling more or driving more fuel efficient vehicles.

REPLY: Emission standards are already in place. You buy your car, and I will buy mine!

We need a leader to step up and challenge our nation again.

REPLY: You mean like Al Gore or John McCain, huh?

I don't think it's a coincidence that God commanded us to be the caretakers of the earth.

REPLY: There it is again. Bringing God into it. God never intended forced regulations either, which is what this is all about. I can't emphasize this enough.

Restore this planet.

REPLY: You make it sound like the earth is falling apart at the seams. Dude, give me a break. How far do you want to go with "restoring" the planet? To the point where industry is dead? Where no one has a job anymore?

Woodnfish.

Yup. All of these third world and developing countries have been around forever. How much time do they need to develop? What is their problem? We got it right and developed in less than 400 years. Capitalism is a great thing! If they were only smart enough to realize that. Socialist coutries like France have 18 percent unemployment rate in alot of their cities. We ahve 4.5. Their economy was so bad that they had to team up with other socialist countries to form a new, socialist currency. I guess that other countries just aren't as ambitious or hard working as we are. Collectively, developing countries pollute more than we do. They need to accept alot of the blame.