Michael Crichton - Debunking Enviro-Fundamentalism

Awesome speech given by Crichton to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco (of all places...). He takes on all of the icons: The Noble Savage... The Garden of Eden... even DDT. Here's a tasty tidbit:

I can tell you that second hand smoke is not a health hazard to anyone and never was, and the EPA has always known it. I can tell you that the evidence for global warming is far weaker than its proponents would ever admit. I can tell you the percentage the US land area that is taken by urbanization, including cities and roads, is 5%. I can tell you that the Sahara desert is shrinking, and the total ice of Antarctica is increasing. I can tell you that a blue-ribbon panel in Science magazine concluded that there is no known technology that will enable us to halt the rise of carbon dioxide in the 21st century. Not wind, not solar, not even nuclear. The panel concluded a totally new technology-like nuclear fusion-was necessary, otherwise nothing could be done and in the meantime all efforts would be a waste of time. They said that when the UN IPCC reports stated alternative technologies existed that could control greenhouse gases, the UN was wrong.

Amazing really, given the series of list of "technology gone mad" books the man has written. Go read it. It is truly impressive.

Hat tip: The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid