If the climate is changing due to human causes then we need to effectively value its cost of changing and make an intelligent decision as to which is worse – the cause or the cure.

But everyone will have to agree to disagree. There will be no consensus on this. For those worried about global warming, feel free to cut back on your energy use. Don’t let me stop you.

First of all, the survey that you mention is from the National Registry of Environmental Professionals, which is not an organization of climate scientists or even environmental scientists. Regardless, if we look at the results of their survey (found here), it’s a little different than you let on. For example, “59 percent respond that current climactic activity exceeding norms calibrated by over 100 years of weather data collection can be, in large part, attributed to human activity.” Also, “58 percent of those practitioners surveyed think the U.S. is in a position to begin taking concrete public policy steps that have a good chance of slowing the negative effects of global warming. 67 percent report they think the U.S. Government is NOT doing enough to address the effects of global warming.” And, “53 percent of professionals polled consider international agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol, provide a solid framework from which large volume energy producing countries like the U.S. can play a positive role in combating the effects of global climate change.”

Most importantly, though, this 39% number you give is complete and total bullshit. The question was “Which human activity would you say should be regulated the most to generate an effective public policy response to global warming?” 38.6% of respondents answered “carbon emissions as a whole.” The remaining 61.4% gave a variety of other answers, including “energy production”, “modes of transportation”, “deforestation”, “ocean pollution”, and “air pollution”. This in no way implies that “only 39% [of scientists] felt that carbon dioxide reductions were a priority.” Did you even look at the survey?

Does the author of this piece know that there is a huge difference between “global warming/climate change” and a “runaway greenhouse effect?” The former means that climate patterns shift, with a probably increase in the global mean temperature. The latter means that Earth becomes like Venus.

Gigantic difference.