The issue of climate change has been discussed recently in our Rants and Raves column. It seems that most of the contributors agree that man is impacting our climate. It’s just a question of how much and what can be done about it.

We have data provided by some of our most esteemed scienctists that say our fossil fuels do help add to the issues of global warming.  These are scientists from around the world.

Some laymen will say that these scientists are wrong. Well, this data comes from some of the same brilliant-type minds that have put men on the moon, put satellites to the very edge of our solar system, transplanted organs, cured diseases and maximized energy efficiencies, etc. So why would we think this class of thinking would be so far off on something like our climate?

That said, we know we can’t quit fossil fuels cold turkey. But we can have intelligent conversations and lay long-range plans for dealing with the adverse effects of fossil fuels. That may come in replacement forms of energy or learning to trap the harmful gases and reconverting them so that they do not harm our ozone layer.

This past week, scientists projected that the warmer weather we are experiencing will likely cause more downpours than usual. That translates to property and lives lost.

Someone in the Rants and Raves column appropriately pointed out that this issue should be one dominated by science and not politics. That’s a logical assertion, but we all know that it’s hard to keep political opportunists at bay. But we should be able to minimize any small-mindedness enough to deal with the problems at hand.

Here’s an observation that we should consider. Let’s say we acccept that man is impacting our climate, and we strive for better energy solutions. Only good can come from it.

Then let’s say that it turns out man is not impacting the climate after we have strived for better energy solutions. Still, only good can come from it. We can breathe cleaner air, and we may have  greater access to viable alternative renewable fuels. Some people call that a win-win situation.

Once again, let’s have intelligent conversations about these issues, lest our children and grandchildren are adversely affected by dogmatic views.