The fact that the constituents in the atmosphere is and has always been over 99% non-greenhouse gas (nitrogen and oxygen) and less than 1% greenhouse gas, makes one scratch their head as to the logic that there is a correlation between carbon dioxide emissions and temperature rise. The predominant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are approximately: water vapor and clouds ~ 8,000 ppm; carbon dioxide ~380 ppm; methane ~ 1,745 ppb; nitrous oxide ~ 314 ppb; and fluorinated gases ~ 533 ppt.

Carbon dioxide makes up only 0.038% of all the atmospheric constituents even though the natural resources we are all so dependent upon for energy and transportation in the US and worldwide all emit carbon dioxide during combustion. Interestingly, other than water vapor, carbon dioxide is also the most, vitally important greenhouse gas that makes life on earth possible. Plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through photosynthesis and humans breath in oxygen and exhale ~40,000 ppm of carbon dioxide. One can then argue that curtailing carbon dioxide emissions will have consequences to life.

If the Senate passes the cap and trade bill, the scheme will have the consequences of taxing the poorest and the richest with costly increases to food, gasoline and electricity. It likewise will make the United States less competitive and ever more dependent upon dependent upon oil and gas imports. Using climate change as if it were a man-made crisis, the scheme punishes everyone who produces and uses energy in an effort to curtail its use, but actually accomplishes nothing to reduce greenhouse gas worldwide. Afterall, the citizenship in the United States only represents ~4% of the world population.

As we are now discovering, the IPCC has been consistently wrong on its forecasts for ice melt, polar bear extinction, higher sea levels, etc. Though we continue to hear arguments to the contrary as can be seen from some of the comments to this article, the global temperatures have likely been cooling since 1998 and global temperatures were actually hotter in the 1930s. The earth has experienced multiple times of severe temperature swings (i.e. the ice age) that had nothing to do with civilized development. The glacial melting could just as likely be a "normal" cycle, albeit not one civilized man has yet to witness (or document). The bottom line – just because you can connect some dots does not mean that they are related or dependent. Our atmospheric system is huge; it does in fact cycle; it warms and it cools.

I thought so too until I took the trouble to read the IPCC Reports and other material. The only 'evidence' they can offer is circumstantial. Rising temperatures and melting ice, etc is very good evidence that the globe has warmed but says nothing about the cause. The IPCC computer models are incapable of predicting future climate, they even admit this themselves.

The staggering fact is, there is not one piece of empirical evidence indicating rising man-induced greenhouse gasses are the principle cause of the warming. If there was we would have all heard about it ad nausium by now.

The world has built in mechanisms that act to vent off excess heat (as satelite data verifies) and variable cloud cover, the largest single determinant of global temperatures, and other factors, act to maintain Earthly temperatures within reasonable bounds.

While minor gasses like CO2 do influence temperatures, there is convincing evidence that this is so small as to be impossible to identify amongst the 'noise' of the many other more important factors.

Any suggestion therefore that we would be somehow better off with the introduction of a carbon tax is ill-founded. It would only act to progressively increase costs, destroy competitiveness and viability, increase unemployment, etc.

Any investment based on such a poor assumption would likely prove to be bad.

Global warming with human activity a primary contributor continues to be scientifically supported and, as Mr. Hutchinson advises, efforts to combat it will provide investment opportunities – but our investments must be informed by the best scientific information available.

We should see a global rise of 2 degrees by 2050 easily. If we continue to have unrestricted CO2 emissions till 2050- the rise in global temperatures will likely exceed 3 degrees by the 2090s by more then a 50/50 possibility.

A rise of 3 degrees will in fact have societal and economic ramifications that could be considered bad.

We currently stand at around 392ppm- and rising at the rate of over 2ppm a year. We should pass 400ppm in 2015, and around 450ppm by as early as 2030 with unrestricted CO2.

We will easily pass the 2 degree threshold by mid century or sooner- and at this point there is a 50/50 chance of 3 degrees or more by the 2090s.

This therefore makes your predictions incorrect.