The concentrations of three main greenhouse gases blamed for global warming were at record levels last year and will linger for decades, according to a recent Reuters article that cited the United Nations’ weather agency.

But three experts contacted by Michigan Capitol Confidential are critical of the news story.

John Christy is a professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He also served as Alabama's state climatologist.

Christy questions a paragraph in the story that reads: “The report adds to a number of warnings that time is running out to act on climate change and prevent worsening extreme weather as the Earth's temperature rises.”

“Extreme weather is not increasing to any significant degree,” Christy wrote in an email. “The latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) draft even says so.”

Christy said the concentration of carbon dioxide was several times higher when plant life evolved than it is now. “So these are far from being ‘record amounts’ when Earth’s history is considered.”

Increased carbon dioxide is also a sign of an improving world related to the standard of living “for those who struggle the most,” Christy said.

David Legates is a professor of geography and the former director of the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Delaware. He also served as the Delaware state climatologist. He said the main greenhouse gas is not carbon dioxide but rather water vapor, which can’t be regulated.

“Water vapor accounts for about (five-sixths) of the warming attributable to all greenhouse gases,” Legates said in an email.

Legates said greenhouse gases often increase the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air and enhance growth and make plants more efficient with their water use.

“Despite what we are often told by the media, climate is more variable during colder times than warmer periods and storminess actually is less (both for tropical activity and mid-latitude weather systems). Thus, increased CO2 has significant benefits both for plants and our climate,” Legates said. “ … despite dramatically rising levels of CO2, mean global temperature has remained relatively constant over the last 10 to 15 years. That means that something at least as important as CO2 has been affecting our climate and that greenhouse gases are NOT the single most important driver in climate change. Note too that climate has always changed and it always will -- any policy that attempts to 'stabilize' global temperatures is destined to fail since it purports to stop nature!”

William Happer is a professor of physics at Princeton University and is a former director of energy research at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Happer wrote in a study that before the industrial revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was about 270 parts per million (ppm). He said currently it is about 390 ppm. Happer said geological evidence indicates that about 50 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels were several thousand ppm, “and life flourished abundantly.”

Happer wrote in an email that carbon dioxide levels are increasing at a rate of at 2 ppm per year, and so it would take 600 years at that rate to add 1,200 ppm.

“And over most of the geological history of the earth, CO2 levels have been higher than 1,600 ppm. Plants would love it, and the rest of the world biosphere would also benefit.”

With a 2-1 labor-friendly advantage, the National Labor Relations Board is poised to speed up the union election process, but to do so it would have to bend its own rules.

According to precedent, the NLRB requires at least three “yes” votes to make changes, such as those proposed for the elections. But it plans to adopt the regulations with just two “yes” votes, anyway in a meeting scheduled for Nov. 30.

At full force, the NLRB is comprised of five members. Due to wrangling between President Barack Obama and Congress, it currently has only three members. They are: Craig Becker, associate general counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Mark Gaston Pearce, NLRB chairman; and Brian Hayes, Republican labor policy director for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. All three are Obama appointees.

Hayes is expected to vote “no” on the changes while Becker and Pearce are expected to vote “yes.”  Passing the new rules with only two affirmative votes would be a break with the way the NLRB has always operated. However, that doesn't seem to be considered an obstacle.

“We think this is one of the more aggressive moves by the National Labor Relations Board,” said Wendy Block, director of health policy and human resources for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. “They are supposed to have three members voting in favor to do this. But apparently they've decided to ignore that and just vote for it.

“We believe that speeding up the process would have a negative impact on businesses,” Block continued. “A business should be given time to talk with their employees about whether or not they really want to become unionized. The idea of snap elections doesn't help anyone.”

Nick Ciarmitaro, state director of legislation and public policy for AFSCME , did not return the phone call when given an opportunity to comment.

The explanation given on the NLRB website for the vote is that the rule changes are “intended to reduce unnecessary litigation, streamline pre- and post-election procedures, and facilitate the use of electronic communications and document filing.”

It's estimated that under the proposed rules businesses would have about half the time they presently have to address the potential pitfalls of unionization. Former NLRB member Peter Schaumber has likened it to having a political election in which only one party is given the opportunity to tell voters its side of the story, and could set an election date only days away, all without prior notice to the other side.