Some scientists can be paid-off to say one thing or another, but there are scientists at almost every university in America (and the world) among many other sources. The group of scientists that came out against the human-global warming link is a large group of experts from many different countries, sources, and backgrounds.

I'm pretty sure 'big oil' didn't pay every single scientist in the world off, and I'm pretty sure neither side of our govt. did it either.

Deforestation can be a problem, but if you do some research you'll find that paper and lumber companies (at least in America) actually replace more trees than they cut down. And as a matter of fact the forest levels in the US have risen vastly in the last 100 years.

- Lumber and paper come from trees
- Lumber and paper companies make money based on how much they sell
- Destroying their source of income wouldn't really help make money

So they have come up with pretty ingenious ways of making more trees than they take. It was a huge movement in the industry 60 - 80 years ago (and sometimes further back than that). Lumber and paper companies employ a lot of agricultural experts to keep them in business, and to actually help the environment.

Also, BP & Exxon (and several other) 'big oil' companies are dumping billions upon billions of dollars into alternate, clean, and new primary sources of energy. The companies are smart enough to realize that eventually oil will either; A: not be available or B: technology will make it less of a money making commodity.

Big oil is actually spending its own money to keep up with (and sometime actually create) new technologies to improve the future of power generation and industry. They realize they will be able to make money when the time comes that oil is no longer the primary source for power...and they want to be right there waiting with all the answers to oil so they can stay in business.

You see, "big business" is everyone's favorite thing to blame for every problem (besides the Bush Administration of course). But what people fail to realize is that "big business" stays in business by being ahead of the curve, and smarter than everyone else in their line of work. So it actually behooves these companies to help the environment and make things better. It means more money for them, and they look good in the public eye (which increases stock revenue).

I'm not saying there aren't shady things that happen in business or government; I'm just saying that sometimes 'evil things' get wrongly labeled as such. Do more research into these areas (hemp, lumber, paper, oil, govt., etc.) and you'll find a lot more good than bad. You'll also find that those 'big businesses' are invested hundreds of times more money into improving the environment than Greenpeace or and other 'movement' out there.

My statement about welfare checks was sarcastic in order to get a point across that smart people usually go where the money is, anyone else who challenges where the money is usually end up on the short end of the stick...and it does happen. Science isn't a rich man's profession, and so if you aren't getting in good with the popular movements of the day, you'll find yourself in a pretty tight spot. If you do a little history in the science (and history) fields, you'll find a lot of people who question or challenge the popular thinking of whatever time they find themselves in, have been literally kicked out of their community of science or history. It even gets bad enough where they are ridiculed and made to look like liars and heathens...and I don't think those people thought it was silly when they were unemployed and unemployable because of their beliefs and theories.