The 11th Hour

Is global warming a hoax? I am inclined to say no. However, despite my bias towards the environmentalists, I want to inform myself on all angles, without being swayed by manipulatory rhetoric. I may never be sure of the truth, but this is not reason to bask in ignorance.

Why do sites such as Global Warming Hoax claim so vehemently that we are being ideologically swindled? If they are wrong, then what are their motives?
State of Fear by Micheal Crichton may be a good reading place to start when exploring this territory of opinion.

Analogously, where do the environmental lobbyists base their beliefs? What are the true scientific figures, and what would anyone gain from their exaggeration?

A reading list I drew up from watching The 11th Hour, the film produced and narrated by avid environmentalist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio:

The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Ricard Heinberg
The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph Tainter
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann
Biomimicry by Janine Benys
Mycellium Running by Paul Stampets (?)
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough

I'm not sure how relevant all of these will be yet.

Other interesting figures spearheading the awareness of climate crisis, many of whom are women:

Tzeporah Berman - Forest Ethics
Gloria Flora - Sustainable Obtainable Solutions (she might actually be a plant)
Wangari Maathai - Founder of Greenbelt Movement & 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Candidate
Betsy Taylor - Founder of the Centre for the New American Dream
Jerry Mander - Director of the International Forum of Globalization
James Hillam - Psychologist
Derek Hopler - Whole Earth Catalogue
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Vandana Shiva - Physicist
Sunderial Bahuguna
Sandra Postel - Global Water Policy Project

Institutions/Groups:

The Land Institute
The Ecologist Magazine

Ecological Design:

Bruce Mau Design
Arup(?)

Notable Buildings and Structures:

Water Machine - Adam J Lewis Building, Oberlin college (Mau)
Bank of America Building
JR Train lines in Japan
Federal Building, San Francisco

Solutions:

Photosynthetic Buildings
Natural Ventilation
Mycofiltration
Trident Energy

Offsetting income tax with pollution tax
Voting by consuming


I know how worried I should be at having spent my Friday night blogging, rather than getting disgustingly drunk, but I can't get things off my mind. Besides, I'm going through a kind of latent adolescence (a result of a disjointed growing up?) and can't stick other people at the moment.