Carbon Dioxide a dangerous pollutant?

I don't know how I missed this, but I scarcely have words to describe what I'm thinking right now.

The first thing that came to mind was "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Actually, I'm thinking of the second book in the series, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe". After using an unguided teleporter Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent end up stranded on prehistoric Earth with a group of alien settlers, the Golgofrinchans. These particular Golgafrinchans were exiled on planet Earth by their fellow Golgafrinchans back home because of their utter uselessness to society. Upon landing on planet Earth, instead of focusing on the essentials for survival, they spend their time making war on uninhabited continents and trying to find a hot spring and a soap mine so that their leader can take a hot bath. The pinnacle of their acheivements, however, have to do with their monetary policies. By establishing the leaf as their currency they all become very rich, but this wealth is quickly tempered by a bit of an inflation problem. Since the inflation problem is caused by the seemingly endless supply of leaves, they decide to reduce the supply of leaves by burning down all the forests.

A dangerous pollutant? Really? Are we really going to make war on the air that the plants and trees breathe?

While I can understand the concern (although I believe it's an unfounded concern) that increased CO2 levels are warming our planet, I think it's important to retain at least some semblence of sanity in how we address this problem. Declaring a compound that is critical to the preservation of life on this planet a "dangerous pollutant", is not an example of retaining sanity.

I haven't even MENTIONED the massive increase in potential government power this is. Can you imagine the potential for bullying and for favoring certain special interests by changing the CO2 regulations particular to that industry or even that singular organization? Whoever controls the bureaucracy that monitors and enforces CO2 regulations rules the world.

In my continued efforts to keep a positive non-partisan attitude, I will wait and see whether President Elect Obama is serious, or just pandering to his radical base.