i suppose it generally forum protocol that these kind of off-topic discussions should be taken elsewhere but i couldn't help throwing my tuppence worth into the fray.
i did some of this stuff in college, admittedly a few years back now, but i think we (most of us laymen who lack expertise in the area) should probably go with the scientific consensus on this unless that changes with new data (as with any other scientific issue).
as far as im aware, unless its changed lately and i didnt hear, most meterologists/environmental scientists etc seem to go with the whole "earth is warming and mankind is contibuting a lot" thing or "AGW".
the "trend" since records began, is that global temp is rising.
some years may be cooler than the previous year(s) and local conditions may be variable but that doesnt alter the upward global curve.
carbon is carbon, clean coal or not. CO2 (and water vapour for that matter!) traps heat close to the earth.
as icecaps melt, less heat is radiated back out. which accelerates the melting and warming.
localized desertification and sea level rise will be a bummer in certain areas but youve also got a whole heap of other climate (locally: weather) issues. wind is caused by air pressure gradients, (gases expand when heated, pressure changes and vice versa obv.) air moves from areas of high pressure to low. the greater the diff, the faster the wind. global warming means very different weather systems to what we have been used to.
we and animals and plants have got used to a fairly stable climate in whatever region we inhabit. yes the worlds climate has swung all over the place in the past but its much more rapid now (relative term obv. as individuals, it may not seem that great or rapid).
roughly speaking surely we have to believe what the science tells us, regardless of self-serving individuals such as you mention. (not that i have a notion of what those guys have said or done btw).
It makes no sense to tax the first world countries
seems fair enough, the developed world can take any minimal tax pain much better. we did well enough out of fossil fuels, industrialism etc. anyway you do what you can, regardless of others. china is building plenty hydro stuff too btw.
Look up NDAA...even the nazis never passed laws like this.
im not american so you obv. know better than me. but from afar, i dont think the US is approaching a police state. sure, militarism (isnt the NDAA basically about the defence budget?) will always be part of american gov policy, but surely for sound (selfish) reasons. employment, securing resources, maintaining superpower status in the world's eyes and so on.
Earth naturally heats and cools, not because of carbon
the sun provides the energy. earth warms. the atmosphere helps trap heat. at night and during winter you'd be a lot colder without it.

nitrogen (N2) especially and oxygen (O2) are the major gases up there but diatomic gases dont absorb and release thermal energy like....say, CO2!!!! or water vapour (H2O).
anyway, there's good scientific reasoning behind all the global warming stuff. honestly
