First, is the global climate getting warmer? Contrary to what some seem to believe, there is legitimate scientific debate on this point.

Second, if the climate is getting warmer, is it because of human activity? Once again, there is legitimate scientific debate on the subject.

Sadly, this important topic has been politicized to the point where it's hard to accept statements from either side without questioning their motivation. Personally, I'd prefer more scientific analysis before committing one way or the other to things like Kyoto. I prefer the doctor's dictim: "First, do no harm."

It doesn't help when some of the strongest advocates for global warming have a history of saying things like these by Dr. Stephen Scheider, one of the foremost proponents of global warming theory:

"A cooling trend has set in, perhaps one akin to the Little Ice Age." - Twenty-year-old Schneider quote cited in the Washington Times, June 12, 1992

"Temperatures do not increase in proportion to an atmospheric increase in CO2... Even an eight-fold increase... might warm earth's surface less than two degrees Centigrade, and this is highly unlikely in the next several thousand years." - from paper Schneider co-authored in 1971 cited in Environmental Overkill by Dixy Lee Ray (1993)

"[Global warming linked to emissions of CO2, methane and other gases] is a scientific phenomenon beyond doubt. It's only a question of how much warming there will be." - Quoted by David L. Chandler of the Boston Globe, January 23, 1989

""It is journalistically irresponsible to present both sides [of the global warming theory] as though it were a question of balance. " - Quoted in the Boston Globe, May 31, 1992

"Looking at every bump and wiggle... is a waste of time.. I don't set very much store by looking at the direct evidence." -Quoted in the Washington Times, June 12, 1992

"[We] have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified dramatic statements and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." -Quoted by Dixy Lee Ray in Trashing the Planet (1990)

He isn't the only one:

"An Ice Age is coming and I welcome it as much-needed changing. I see no solution to our ruination of earth except for a drastic reduction of the human population." - Dave Foreman, quoted in From the Trenches, a publication of Putting People First, March 1, 1993 (founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute)

"The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines. Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. Population control is the only answer." - Dr. Paul Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb (1968), predicting widespread famine that never materialized.

"A global climate treaty must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the greenhouse effect." - Richard Benedick quoted by Dixy Lee Ray in her book Trashing the Planet

"Don't worry about the blandness of the final [Global Climate] treaty, because it has hidden teeth that will develop in the right circumstances." - Richard Benedick quoted by The New York Times, June 14, 1992