Two years ago, I wrote a column for another publication that created a bit of local controversy.

In that column, I stated my belief that the common theory of &uot;global warming&uot; as caused by humans was a myth created by environmentalists and the media to scare people and force cooperation among naysayers.

I still stand by that statement today.

Last night, I read an article on CNN.com detailing the detachment of a large ice shelf in the Antarctic, in which one scientist was quoted as blaming global warming through man-made factors for the phenomenon.

I say, bologna. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not denying that the earth is getting warmer.

Perhaps it is.

I simply take issue with the theory that man is behind that so-called warming effect, and also that the warming itself is something to be alarmed about.

Obviously, as I pen this column I do so as a member of the media.

Nevertheless, I do not hesitate to admit that many of my cohorts in the media – most notably, the national media – sell newspapers and television time slots by hyping up the small stuff.

I believe this is what has happened with the whole &uot;global warming&uot; theory in the last decade.

Fear of imminent doom sells papers just as controversy and sex scandals do, therefore many members of the media have latched on to the (however remote) possibility that the world may be meeting its premature demise by means of slowly melting to death.

Yet beware how much you buy into this theory… it is supported by surprisingly few facts and even fewer prominently known climatologists.

Oh, sure, there have been international councils held to discuss the theories… but what does it boil down to, really? Smokescreen.

Call it the Matrix hypothesis – as the character Morpheus stated, &uot;It is the world which has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.&uot;

What is that truth, you wonder? Simply that the world might be undergoing a period of warming, but if that is the case, it is only the natural cycling of warm and cold which occurs in every decade, every century and every millennium throughout time.

Though I wasn’t alive to remember this, some of you were… and I’ve done my research.

A few decades ago, scientists were trying to convince the world that we were on the verge of entering a new Ice Age.

Newspaper stories back then were rampant with fears that we would all freeze to death.

Well, guess what?

That hasn’t happened… but in today’s society has emerged a new fear, one which you all are undoubtedly familiar with – global warming.

With every trip we take to the grocery store in our fuel-consuming vehicles, with every emission that is made from a factory producing goods, we are supposedly contributing to the downfall of the world as we know it.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy that.

I’m not saying that pollution isn’t a problem… it is, especially in larger cities where those emissions disturb the air quality for breathing.

However, there is nothing and no one that can convince me those same emissions are what is causing this warming trend we’ve been seeing in recent years.

Hasn’t anybody ever heard of El Nino? La Nina? Both are perfectly common ocean disturbances which occur at regular intervals yet still contribute to the natural climatic cycle of hurricanes, sea winds and other meteorological events.

I mean, hello people?

It doesn’t mean the world is ending!

Get a grip!

Environmentalist groups survive only through research funding by external sources, and said researchers are naturally biased toward finding anomalies supporting their theories because they want to keep their jobs.

Meanwhile, those external funding sources are seeing hyped-up, prescreened information put out by – who else – the national media.

The media sells newspapers like hotcakes when they contain any sort of Doomsday theory because, naturally, members of the public want to know about things if they think there’s a chance they might die.

It’s a vicious cycle; one that will not break so long as the average person believes in this ridiculous theory.

Still choose to believe it?

Hate me now for attempting to discredit the theory?

That’s your choice, but I can’t abide by continuing to see these pieces which barely pass for responsible journalism continue to appear undisputed in news sources across the country.

To quote an old country song, &uot;That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.&uot;