Nearly every state in this Union lays claim to originating a well-known quote about the weather. It goes something like, “If you don’t like the weather in (pick your state name), then just wait a moment.”

Currently, the mainstream media and certain politicians continuously exclaim that the Earth is in eminent peril due to raising atmospheric global temperatures. Newspapers follow day after day with stories about melting glaciers and polar ice cover.

A report on Bloomberg.com claims the commodity price of natural gas is falling (Tuesday, Jan. 05, 2010) because the long-range forecast is for a warming trend around the middle of January. The story does not give a source for this knowledge but a look through accuweather.com does not list any signifcant increase in temperatures for my area by then. However, that well-respected weather website does have a lead story about the strong advance of bitter cold air that is reaching down into Florida, bringing ice to the crops there. Weather.com is forecasting that temperatures in Miami, Fla. are expected to drop to 36 degrees F tonight.

Great Britain, Europe and Asia are currently reporting great snowfalls and killing cold that is invading their territories. South Korea was hit this weekend with the heaviest snowfall they have seen in 70 years according to a story I read on MSNBC. On Jan. 6, 2010, the U.K. was hit with the worst cold snap in decades.

However, our political leaders are continuing their plans to force us to increase our costs at home and at work in order to fight against the onslaught of rising temperatures. I just wish they would stop picking and choosing which scientists, or self-proclaimed scientists, to listen to when they discuss such issues. They really need to approach this topic with a more open mind.

The only experience I personally have to support a warming climate is not very scientific. In my nearly 60 years, I have vivid memories of Michigan and Illinois winters when air temperatures plunged well below zero. Daytime high temperatures stayed below zero and wind chills reached dangerous levels. In fact, I recall at least twice when I was serving in the Air Force in Illinois that we were ordered to stay in bed for the day in case the furnaces failed in the barracks as wind chill temperatures reached minus 75 degrees F outdoors.

It has been a number of years since we have experienced very many days of low temperatures below zero here in Southeast Michigan. However, we have also not had to endure the repeating days with temperature exceeding 100 in the summer either. If anything, there has only been a moderating of temperatures in this area of the country.

I guess my biggest concern is that we are hanging so much of our resources on forecasts that go out 30, 50 or 100 years when we can’t reliably forecast 3 to 5 days of weather. I am tired of the power brokers continuing to wring more money out of my pockets, which is all I think this global warming crisis is really all about. There is just too much data available that disputes the political conclusions.