Open Forum: Global warming may be a hoax

A couple recent Open Forums sounded like I had a target on my back for raising a few doubts of "Human Caused Global Warming." I still maintain human caused global warming may be a gigantic hoax. Many have gotten on the band wagon of carbon credits, green jobs and etc. based, mostly on a Harvard lawyer, in my opinion, not smart enough to find his rear end with both hands!

There were times when the earth was much warmer than the 20th century. In 1949, after I graduated from high school I took a job driving a dynamite truck at the Fort Randall Dam in southern South Dakota. We had a coal cutter that cut 12 foot trenches and then we drilled holes in the solid shale and finally blew up the squares so the drag lines could load the shale into trucks for dam fill. On several occasions we discovered fossil fish about the size of crappies, all apparently swimming in the same direction. What ever happened to the fish happened suddenly. We also discovered fern tropic like leaves that were embedded in the shale. Obviously, South Dakota hasn't had tropical plants in millions of years and temperatures had to be much higher than the twentieth century. Millions of years South Dakota was the bottom of an ocean Why did the glaciers that formed our beautiful lakes all disappear long before we had humans causing the melting?

Today we have the technology to measure by satellites the sun activity, the exact earth orbit position, the earth inclination, the exact wobble, temperatures and the carbon dioxide levels all simultaneous fed into a computer. We could analyze real time data not inferences on limited data and lucrative hoaxes

Robert C. Olson

Ideal Township

Crow Wing County

Federal regulation

Those words are swearing words to some people who want the government out of their lives. But yet when things happen, they always ask "Where was the government when this happened? Why did they allow this to happen?" They want it both ways. They want the government out of the picture, but still responsible. They say, "Don't come around here telling me how to run my business but when the lid blows off you better have some answers, because you're responsible."

Our world is full of critics who like to complain but have no good answers. I have listened to people the last few weeks that want British Petroleum removed from the problem in the gulf. B.P deserves to be criticized and blamed for making it happen in the first place, but the fact remains they may be the only ones with the expertise to stop it. Despite the fact the federal government seems to be the answer for everything, for some people, they have no one who knows better than B.P and no expertise or equipment to handle this. But the government does have some egg on its face with regulatory blame and needs to keep the pressure on B.P. to get the job done, plugged and cleaned up.

The government is charged with regulating this industry. We are seeing the result of lax regulation too much in this country lately. Wall Street comes to mind and now this. Most of these things would have never have happened without the cozy relationship that exists between the federal government and the people they are supposed to be watching, or were they just trying to appease the ones who want them out of their lives?

Mike Holst

Crosslake

Disappointed by veto

Citizen involvement in the legislative process is tremendously important. By working with engaged, motivated citizens, we can produce positive, forward-thinking legislation that truly makes an impact on peoples' lives.

That's why I'm so proud of the legislation we brought forward this year aimed at stopping the spread of invasive species in northern Minnesota lakes. For the past couple years, I have been working closely with a group of volunteers from the Brainerd Lakes Area Invasive Species Task Force, had come together to tackle this important issue. Together, we crafted a bill designed to help educate commercial dock installers on steps they can take to prevent the spread of invasive species as they travel from lake to lake every spring. While the measure was passed by both the House and Senate, it was added to the broader Game and Fish Omnibus bill, which, unfortunately, was vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty.

While I'm disappointed by the governor's veto, it shouldn't overshadow the efforts of our dedicated local volunteers. Getting the bill approved by the Legislature wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of this volunteer task force, who contributed many hours to seeing this bill through to the Governor's desk. I especially want to thank Clyde Clement from the Pelican Lake Property Owners Association and Molly Zins of Pequot Lakes, Program Director at Minnesota Waters.

Often times it takes more than one year effort to shepherd an idea all the way to through the governor's final signature so I expect the bill will be reintroduced next year. With your continuing help, I have no doubt of the success of this important water quality initiative.

Mary Olson

Bemidji

State senator

District 4