Changes

[[Liberal]]s like to portray [[environmentalism]] as a liberal cause.  What they won't tell you is many of the environmental disasters were caused by liberals:

[[Liberal]]s like to portray [[environmentalism]] as a liberal cause.  What they won't tell you is many of the environmental disasters were caused by liberals:

* In 1979, [[Jimmy Carter]] adopted an [[energy]] policy in an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, demanding a 50% cut in the use of oil to generate electricity and replace it with [[coal]].  This policy was unveiled in his 1979 "malaise" speech.<ref>http://www.rightwingnews.com/speeches/carter.php</ref>  This caused a 40% increase in the use of coal as a power source<ref>Huber, Peter and Mills, Mark. ''The Bottomless Well''.  Basic Books, 2005.</ref>, pumping millions of tons of additional [[greenhouse gases]] into the atmosphere.  Indeed, global mean temperatures were dropping from 1940 to the late 1970s but this cooling trend reversed after 1978 and became a warming trend.

* In 1979, [[Jimmy Carter]] adopted an [[energy]] policy in an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, demanding a 50% cut in the use of oil to generate electricity and replace it with [[coal]].  This policy was unveiled in his 1979 "malaise" speech.<ref>http://www.rightwingnews.com/speeches/carter.php</ref>  This caused a 40% increase in the use of coal as a power source<ref>Huber, Peter and Mills, Mark. ''The Bottomless Well''.  Basic Books, 2005.</ref>, pumping millions of tons of additional [[greenhouse gases]] into the atmosphere.   

* Environmentalists have been opposed to [[nuclear power]] since the 1970s.  Their cause gained more public support after the 1979 [[Three Mile Island]] accident.  As a result of this opposition, no new nuclear power plants have been commissioned in the United States since.  In conjunction with Carter's energy policy, this led to coal becoming the default electricity-producing fuel.  See above for the consequences.  Nuclear power, by contrast, does not produce any air pollution at all.

* Environmentalists have been opposed to [[nuclear power]] since the 1970s.  Their cause gained more public support after the 1979 [[Three Mile Island]] accident.  As a result of this opposition, no new nuclear power plants have been commissioned in the United States since.  In conjunction with Carter's energy policy, this led to coal becoming the default electricity-producing fuel.  See above for the consequences.  Nuclear power, by contrast, does not produce any air pollution at all.

* [[Aerosol]]s are known to have an atmospheric cooling effect, possibly masking any man-made warming effects from greenhouse gases, assuming there is such a thing.<ref>http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/39303</ref>  Liberal environmentalists campaigned heavily against consumer use of aerosols starting in 1974 after an environmental scare hit the news that aerosol sprays could be harmful to the [[ozone layer]].<ref>http://www.predictweather.co.nz/assets/articles/article_resources.php?id=36</ref>  See above for the consequences.  Global mean temperatures began rising again in the late 1970s.

* [[Aerosol]]s are known to have an atmospheric cooling effect, possibly masking any man-made warming effects from greenhouse gases, assuming there is such a thing.<ref>http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/39303</ref>  Liberal environmentalists campaigned heavily against consumer use of aerosols starting in 1974 after an environmental scare hit the news that aerosol sprays could be harmful to the [[ozone layer]].<ref>http://www.predictweather.co.nz/assets/articles/article_resources.php?id=36</ref>  See above for the consequences.  Global mean temperatures began rising again in the late 1970s.