bloke wrote:.Further, I additionally heat my home with the wood from fallen trees (as there are so many of these, that it is silly to cut down living trees). Does this release CO2 into the air...?? I guess it does, but were those trees allowed to ROT, they would release the SAME amount of CO2, and I would 1/ receive none of the benefit of that release and 2/ waste more money on natural gas.
Of course you'd receive the benefits, just not directly. The carbon would be broken down by micro-organisms, assimilated by primary producers (i.e., photosynthetic organisms) and converted into sugars, consumed by herbivores (e.g., deer) and converted into body mass, then consumed by carnivores (e.g., you). Read up on the carbon cycle.
bloke wrote: 
Something "scientific" that needs to be realized by some is this: Additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been found to be a
RESULT (rather than a CAUSE) of additional heat.
This is a very simplistic view of looking at things and has been skewed to fit into your argument. Carbon dioxide retains infrared energy (i.e., heat) longer than do other molecules, thus resulting in higher levels of energy (i.e., heat) that is ultimately released at a slower rate.
Fossil fuels are consumed and carbon dioxide can be produced by this equation:
2(C8H18) + 25(O2) + Heat --> 16(CO2) + 18(H20).
This is the same equation that most of us learn in school:
fuel plus oxygen plus heat source equals conversion. What you don't seem to understand is that once CO2 has been released,
the structure of the carbon dioxide molecule itself is the mechanism by which energy is trapped. Is CO2 the result of heat? In a round-about way, yes, but only when the heat is great enough to break the carbon bonds.
bloke wrote: In MY way of thinking, it seems to me that the person who is asserting that the sky IS falling in (whether this person is lone or legion) is under an INFINITELY HIGHER level obligation to come up with non-anecdotal (AS WELL AS NON-TAMPERED-WITH 
) evidence than the person who suggests that perhaps the sky is NOT falling in. 
Just because you and your holy trinity (i.e., Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh) are not convinced doesn't mean it isn't happening. The un-tampered with scientific evidence is there. You just refuse to believe it because your overlords have filled you full of their flavored kool-aid.
Bloke, you may be surprised to learn that I am a Christian and consider Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was raised in the church, sang in the church choir and played in the church quintet growing up (and was a bit shocked when a member of this board showed me that he emptied his spit valve on the church floor; thanks Al!),
worked at that very church for many years while I finished up my undergraduate degree, and like you believe that the universe is much older than 6,000 years and evolution is all part of His big plan. In all honesty, I used to think that socialism,
in theory, was a good form of government. However, after a few economics classes (thank you, liberal arts university) and discussions with a few professors, I formed new opinions.
By the way, I do not encourage anyone, ever, to work at a large, affluent church if they also plan on worshiping there. Having worked at the bottom of the totem pole (e.g., janitorial/maintenance) I was able to see just how many in the congregation (and on staff, for that matter) really treat their brother man.
