Seven Wishes wrote:Memorex - as always, I have the utmost respect for your well thought out posts and ideas.
Without having researched the idea, I would imagine that Big Wind and Big Windmill have significantly less power in the halls of Congress than, say, Big Oil and Detroit. Can you provide examples of which non-environment based corporations would benefit from increased regulation? I'm more than willing to bend here.
To me, oil and such have become an enemy. And therefore some think users of such things should be punished.
If you look at Al Gore, who is obviously the most well-known "profit" of doom, we all obviously know how much money he made from scaring people. From his movie, from his investments, etc. So that's an easy one.
When you look at scientists, and you read their emails or their papers, or whatever - they start with a premise. We must save the world. We must act now. And they clearly do not want to be wrong. Look at the new UN report about Sun activity. You can't tell me that these people really want to put this information out. They HATE that humans aren't nearly the cause that they said. The UN wants to tax rich wasteful countries like ours and give the money to poor countries. So they want it to be our fault.
I used to be all caught up in the movement. Save the planet. But then I started realizing - that movement wanted me to believe that people are evil. That people are destroying everything. They wanted me to start off believing that I must change people. I started hating the way I was seeing my fellow man. So I opened my eyes and went whoa, I've been had!
Now, I firmly believe we should do all we can to make the air cleaner, keep things safe for food and the oceans and all that. But I also know that the ocean leaks far more oil naturally in a day than BP lost in the gulf during that whole ordeal. So I think ok, some birds died and tourists were put out and people lost work. But for all the good oil does and for the absolute zero long-term affect of that spill on the environment, I'm not going to demonize a company for bringing to market the things we need to survive or make our lives better. That said, they should be held responsible for any mistakes they made by lack of effort.
Here's a test. Make a list of the pain caused by these oil spills. Battered land, dead animals, out of work fisherman, changed local eco system. Then put next to that a list of the pains that would be caused if we stopped the production of oil and coal. You wouldn't have enough paper and the death rate around the world would skyrocket. Nearly every economy would crash.
All this to say - we are not there yet. We have not invented good, cheap sources of alternative energies and ways to create product. We will. We went from walking on our knuckles to building skyscrapers. I have no doubt someone will harness something that will replace oil. We better, or we'll run out. But it's not us and it's not now, until it is. So don't punish the people that are trying to serve the needs of the world now. Don't punish the poor people and old people that can't afford high gas and heating prices. Don't subsidize an industry that simply is never going to turn a profit. Let companies build products that work without a ton of government help. I'm not saying eliminate all help, but most. If a product has a chance, it will make it to market.
And stop measuring the destructive nature of storms by their cost. Things cost more as the years go on and different places cost more than others. A storm may hit one way VS another and so it costs more or more people die. They said Sally was this huge powerful storm, etc. Yea - two storm systems got together by chance and it hit some really rich neighborhoods. We've seen lots of storms bigger than that. Not trying to downplay the pain it caused people.
And be sure of your science and do it without an agenda. And if the humans are heating the planet, we'll adapt. And we'll survive. Maybe not everyone, but that was never the intention of life.
Next time you hear a news report about the hottest day or the coldest day, listen for the part that says "since". It's the hottest day since 1953. To me, that means it was pretty frickin hot back in 1953.