American Thinker | Geoffrey P. Hunt | Jun 23, 2008
According to the popular press, carbon has now joined toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead and cadmium on Peck’s Bad Boy list. The phrase “carbon footprint” in the lexicon of lazy pseudo science writers and amateur climatologists provokes images of radioactive dirty shoes betraying our every move leaving deadly indelible impressions on the path to oblivion.
Why has the image of carbon been so distorted and demonized? Most of us even having a glancing familiarity with organic chemistry at one time knew that carbon is the building block of life on earth. From simple sugars to amino acids and DNA from industrial polymers to Q-tips, carbon is everywhere on earth, as it necessarily must be as carbon’s structure invites nearly every other element to bond with it.
Astrobiologists searching for life beyond earth know that carbon is plentiful, showing up as carbon monoxide CO, methane CH4 and even carbon dioxide CO2 . Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), hydrogen carbon combos that we would associate with petroleum and mothballs, are the most abundant complex molecules in the universe according to Pascale Ehrenfreund of the University of Leiden. Carbon, found in the proximity of hydrogen, oxygen and water, means life is possible. But carbon must be found in very specific combinations and patterns with oxygen and hydrogen along with the occasional nitrogen, forming uniquely shaped amino acids, proteins and sugars, for life as we know it.
Radio telescopes search the universe for even a hint of a tell tale wavelength for these complex biological carbon compounds. But nothing. Silence. The universe seems to be devoid of any biological organic carbon footprint anywhere else. Which means no sign of life. If we are utterly alone, it conjures one of two emotional states: profound loneliness at the realization life on earth may have been a random occurrence or unrestrained joy in appreciating that we are in God’s exclusive province.
Of course the dreaded carbon footprint here on earth is enviro-nihilist shorthand for despising one life form in particular. Humans. While we search the heavens in vain for any sign of intelligent life, the one right here, right now, is under steady assault. The carbon footprint doomsayers would also deny one of the greatest gifts of Western Civilization-continuous discovery and innovation in the science of carbon-from eradicating smallpox and alleviating pain to inventing synthetic nylon pantyhose, fast cars and microbrewed ales.
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