Like many of you, Enbase is closely monitoring the relentless progression of regulatory activity surrounding air emissions, greenhouse gases and the related agendas stacked precariously atop the "global warming" platform.  And barely a day passes where we don't have mixed thoughts about the validity and necessity of it all.  There are times when the information seems well-grounded in science and fact, and other days when seemingly our grade school-age children could sense the ulterior motives at hand -- which all leads to this column we've decide to publish and keep updated.  As you can see from its title (Emissions Management:  Science, McCarthyism and Compliance), this column is designed to address, as it were, the good, the bad and the ugly of the entire air emissions debate.  The good being the information that makes sense and appears to be well-grounded in research and science; the bad being the simultaneous information frequently distributed that is clearly agenda-driven and reminds us of the days of unbridled McCarthyism; and the ugly, most importantly, being that as companies operating in the energy, manufacturing and transportation industries, whether it's science or science fiction, there's a serious element of compliance we all must deal with, like it or not.  So without further ado, welcome to the column.

Today's Installment:  Science -- There's Nothing Like a Good Snowball Fight!

All of Earth's inhabitants rely on a naturally occurring greenhouse effect to provide the warmth necessary to sustain life. Gases in our atmosphere allow much of the incoming solar energy to reach and warm the Earth's surface. The Earth and lower atmosphere reflect some of this incoming energy back as heat energy. The gases that encircle the Earth allow some of this heat to escape into space, but absorb some and reflect another portion back to the Earth.

Without this naturally occurring greenhouse effect, the Earth's temperature would often be below freezing, rather than the global average of 15C (59F) that allows the existence of the familiar life-forms that we have grown to cherish (such as tomatoes) as well as those we dislike (such as mosquitoes). Our heavenly neighbors, Venus and Mars, provide an example of how the quantity of a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide (CO2) can affect a planet. Venus's CO2-rich atmosphere creates a "runaway greenhouse effect" and an average surface temperature of 480C (900F). Mars, on the other hand, has a CO2 -poor atmosphere with virtually no greenhouse effect and an average temperature of -60C (-80 F).

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1998/98_10_22.html

Our Take Here at Enbase: Without an ample supply of greenhouse gas, the earth would be one giant snowball!