THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 172, July 9, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE GREENS JUST LOVE US TO DEATH
By Alan Caruba
THE ENVIRONMENTALIST MOVEMENT VERSUS HUMAN WELFARE: WHAT THE GREENS, OR ENVIRONMENTALISTS,
HAVE ACCOMPLISHED: ENDANGERMENT OF HUMAN HEALTH BY GETTING PESTICIDES & INSECTICIDES BANNED --
THWARTING ALL MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SUCH POLICIES AS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT -- SERIOUSLY
DAMAGING THE FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE U.S.A. THROUGH EXCESSIVE & UNWISE GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF
AGRICULTURE, TIMBER, MINING, ENERGY PRODUCTION, & OTHER CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INDUSTRIES -- CREATION OF AN
ARTIFICIAL ENERGY SHORTAGE, WITH ESCALATING ENERGY COSTS FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES & FAMILIES -- PROMOTION
OF THE "MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING" HOAX -- DISSEMINATION OF LOADS OF PROPAGANDA
FULL STORY:
The vote to end the $6 billion in subsidies to ethanol producers reminded me how much the environmentalists, or Greens,
love us all. Surely, only love could inspire taking corn and turning it into moonshine, and then mixing it with gasoline.
The result caused food riots in far off nations, while raising the cost of a gallon of gas every time we fill up at the pump.
The ethanol mandates actually reduced the mileage a gallon will provide.
At some point, even the Greens grew disenchanted with ethanol and signaled their permission to end this costly
boondoggle to our fearless leaders in Washington, D.C.
You may recall they got off to a strong start when the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970. Its first
act was to ban DDT, and the result of that has been the needless death of millions who could and should have been
protected against malaria. The nation these days is experiencing a bed bug population explosion that could be stopped in
six months, if the EPA would only authorize a pesticide to kill the critters. They won’t.
Nor have Greens given up on the Endangered Species Act, which has not truly saved any species in the course of
spending billions to protect, for example, a spotted owl that needed no protection whatever or gray wolves that were
doing quite well in Canada and Mexico, when not wandering across our borders. What the ESA did accomplish, however,
was to thwart all manner of development, whether it was a new hospital or the irrigation of farms rumored to grow crops
people wanted to eat. The latest proposed use of the ESA is to shut down one of the most productive oil reserves in the
U.S.A. to protect a lizard!
These are the same saintly folk who have managed to get a law passed banning the sale of 100 watt incandescent light
bulbs in favor of those twisty ones that come with a complete hazmat instruction manual because they contain mercury.
The EPA fears mercury so much it is implementing regulations that have already led a utility to announce it is going to
close several coal-fired plants, rather than spend millions to rid emissions of mercury so small as to constitute no hazard
whatever.
When not interfering with the free marketplace, agriculture, timber and other industries, one Green obsession has been
energy and, in particular, oil and coal, which they deem “dirty.” Coal is dirty. I used to shovel a bucket or two into the
basement furnace, until my folks turned to natural gas. The U.S.A. has billions of cubic feet of natural gas, but you get
more mileage from a teaspoon of oil and more electricity from a tablespoon of coal than from any other source of energy.
The U.S.A. is the virtual Saudi Arabia of coal, in terms of the vast reserves known to exist. We have billions of barrels of
untapped oil, as well. Greens are insanely opposed to both.
Greens are all about not “wasting energy.” So, naturally, they are advocates of two of the least practical ways of
producing it, wind and solar energy. Together they produce less than three percent of the electricity we use in America.
In the process, they fill up acres of desert (where lizards and other endangered species live) with solar panels that only
work when the sun is shining or defile other acres with huge, ugly wind turbines that chop all manner of birds and bats
into confetti, while also occasionally catching fire.
The only way to truly “conserve” energy is to not use it, and, in a nation where everything runs on electricity or
gasoline, that means not turning on the lights or driving anywhere. That is a great way to destroy the economy. Getting
more mileage from a gallon of gas is another Green fantasy. It has a finite amount, so that translates into making lighter,
more dangerous cars.
The Greens have all manner of plans to save America’s forests, swamps, and other areas from the taint of human beings
actually having any access to them for any reason. Pretty soon, you will have to settle for a stroll in a local park, if you
want to see a stretch of grass or a bunch of trees. And please do not disturb the Canada Geese, they are a protected
species.
The Greens are always fretting about the way members of the horrid human species are destroying the Earth or just
endangering it in some fashion. They spent from the late 1980s to the end of the last decade caterwauling about a
“global warming” that, in 1998, stopped happening.
Actually, the Earth had begun to warm again around 1850, after three hundred years of what was dubbed a Little Ice
Age. Now scientists are warning that, due to a lack of sunspot activity, the Earth is looking to enter yet another Little
Ice Age. Some even think we are looking at the big one, because we are literally at the end of the 11,500 year cycle
between Great Ice Ages. The last Great Ice Age lasted 100,000 years.
In case I didn’t mention it, “global warming” was a complete hoax, a fraud concocted by the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in order to gin up a market for the sale and trade of “carbon credits.”
Anyone — and I mean anyone — who tells you that humans are causing climate change is a charlatan or a dupe.
Avoid them.
My general recommendation is to avoid anything that has the word “green” attached to it. You are being conned into
spending more for something than necessary. Learn to love the concept of synthetic. Plastic, a product of petroleum, is
synthetic, and we use it everywhere for everything. It is one of the greatest inventions of all time.
You cannot “save the Earth.” The Earth is full of volcanoes, tornadoes, forest fires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards,
droughts, earthquakes, and other completely natural activities, any or all of which can kill you. It is an utter delusion to
think the Earth cares about you, even if you care deeply about it.
This is not to say we should not have a profound respect for the Earth and the good sense to marvel at the beauty and
majesty of its mountains, oceans, and other manifestations. Just remember to pack a sandwich and bring along a bottle
of something to drink, if you plan to wander into its “pristine” parts.
---------------------------------------------------
© Alan Caruba, 2011
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
The Earth's Natural History, Global Climate Changes,
& the Future of Human Life & Civilization on the Planet:
Science, Ideology, & Public Policy
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Science, Ethics, & Human Health:
Human Health & Public Policy
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at Warning Signs, his popular blog -- and thereafter on dozens of other
websites and blogs. His monthly report on new books is posted at Bookviews.
A business and science writer, Caruba is the Founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information
about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and policy.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity