VIEWPOINT: SIGMA TURNS 50 AND OTHER GLOBAL MATTERS

Over the course of 2008, IGM will present an overview of how we lived and worked in previous decades. We will present this as a celebration of how rapidly and effectively we have progressed as an industry, how dramatically the needs of our customers have shifted during this period, and how we are poised to face the future with confidence despite uncertainty. I hope you enjoy this celebration—your celebration really, in creating one of the most efficient industry segments in the world.

Over the next several decades, one thing we will not worry too much about here in Buffalo, NY, is global warming. Looking outside, Frosty seems fairly secure. I have always said that global warming, if true, can be good for Buffalo. While I am not worrying about it and many of my fellow citizens are not worrying about it— increasingly, many public figures are obsessing about it. This obsession is translating into public policies that can impact our industry and our businesses. Therefore, it is no longer an issue to be taken coolly.

It seems the planet is in a warming trend. I guess the issue is in understanding why. Is it because of human activity directly or indirectly creating too many greenhouse gases and trapping heat in our atmosphere? Is it the sun, solar flares, and other sun-related activity causing us to heat up? Maybe it is the precession of the earth’s axis—we are a little wobbly from one millennium to the next. Or perhaps it is Mother Nature doing her own thing. I do not think we know.

While many reports cite scientific consensus, belief is not the same as scientific finding. Whatever happened to the scientific method I learned in science class? Other reports cite Al Gore. Being the oracle he is, doesn’t it make sense to simply trust his judgment on climate modeling? (Afterall, he invented the internet). When I gave testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last May, ostensibly on the topic of alternative fuels infrastructure, I was amazed at the number of legislators consumed with the global warming craze—it is all they wanted to talk about.

My theory is that to some interests (not necessarily all political), global warming and climate change provides
another lever to control things. And, when we are talking about the weather, it quickly becomes the ultimate control facilitator and it will never end. Honestly, do we really have the wealth to indulge in such things? Especially when so much of humanity is wrestling with such basics as clean water, basic healthcare, disease control and basic nutrition, I think not.

I urge you to become more informed about this issue. Do not take what you read in the popular press or hear from some of our political leaders at face value. I plan to continue educating myself and speaking out, lest Chicken Little seizes the day potentially costing our society and our descendents enormous freedom and wealth in the decades ahead.