It is very much in our interest to identify whether we are doing something that will begin an ocillation in the climate.

A very reasonable attitude. Now if we can pry the issue loose from people and organizations, largely leftist, whose sole interest is looting and/or ruining the capitalist Western world (IMO, nobody on this board falls into this category), we might make a little progress.

Again, off the top of my head, some possible warning signs that you are dealing with someone in this category:

--VIOLENTLY opposed to nuclear power, the most obvious near-term solution to CO2 from fossil fuels. A reasonable person unfamiliar with the field of nuclear energy may be skeptical about it, but believes that the problems could have answers. A person familiar with the field knows the problems already have answers.

--Opposed in general to solutions involving higher technology if it doesn't match the agenda. For example, if one came out with an engine advance that doubled the mileage of SUVs, or halved the pollution, a real environmentalist would do backflips. A leftist "environmentalist" would complain that it would encourage people to drive those awful SUVs.

This was brought home to me with great clarity back when "cold fusion" was a big flap, and people still thought there might be something to it. Real environmentalists were hopeful that a source of clean and endless energy would solve a lot of problems. Those who hated capitalism, progress, and human beings in general had different responses.

--Has general contempt for almost anything that makes one's life easier or more pleasurable, with special bile reserved for anything that is highly representative of America. I could give examples of this attitude for pages. Back when Ayn Rand was writing "The Anti-Industrial Revolution,*" the anti-techs were grousing about "electric toothbrushes." Oddly, damn few people who harp on this sort of thing actually seem to live out in a cabin in the woods, and grow their own food while crapping in a hole in the ground.

Good test question: ask them what they think of McDonalds. Most people will say that it's okay food in a pinch, and the kids like it. Other people will say that they can't stand that kind of food, but don't care if others eat it. The radical environmentalist believes that McDonalds is Satan's Outlet On Earth. It is destroying the environment, forcing people to eat fries and get fat, and absolutely worst of all, it's a CORPORATION.

How the Left sees McDonalds

*An excellent commentary on modern anti-capitalist "environmentalists."