o place on his land there, he was always very interested in the sciences. “Classes that explained the mysteries of nature fascinated me,” Adam explained. Therefore, topics such as global warming were very important to Adam and he took what he learned seriously. Through his scientific studies Adam gained a strong belief in the correlation between the increase of carbon dioxide and the rising temperatures that have resulted. When I asked Adam why he believed many people were skeptical of a concept he found so palpable I was surprised by his answer. “It is human nature to protect your own interest,” he replied. Energy from coal, gas and oil make the processes that sustain the high standard of living with which much of today’s society believes they are entitled to possible. People fail to think about the “future well-being” of our planet that is being sacrificed from our actions, Adam explained. I agreed, believing that this attitude is a direct result of the industrial and consumer culture that we live in today. In a society where people are obsessed with finding happiness through material objects, many are willing to sacrifice anything to get possessions that they desire. With attitudes like this, environment consequences are often ignored.I was interested to see what other social issues Adam believed played into the conflict surrounding the validity of global warming. He was eager to talk about where he thought politicians stood on the topic. Many companies, in Adam’s opinion, stand to lose tremendous amounts of money if the truth about global warming becomes accepted by American society. Therefore, industries attempt to hide and discredit the link between carbon dioxide emissions and the warming of the earth. I was surprised to hear that he believed companies fund greenhouse skeptics to proclaim that global warming is a myth. There is, for the most part, a scientific consens...
