FROM OUR INBOX
It seems to me that most alarmists too often end up seeking power and money more than actually solving anything. – Bart H. Steven Longenecker comment: Bart, you understand our point well. The hullabaloo on the urgency of governmental action – whether that’s a carbon tax, banning plastic straws, or a full-fledged Green New Deal – isn’t about helping the environment. It’s about money, power, and fear. As P.J. put it some years ago: “ Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes .” Case in point, this story from earlier this month: Climate-change confessions of an energy reporter. Re: P.J.’s Top 15 Tips for Saving Energy and Protecting the Environment At first I thought he was nuts, then I understood the satire. Keep it up P.J. You understand America a lot better than most. – Beth Anne G. P.J. O’Rourke comment: Thanks, Beth Anne! But let us note that “nuts” and “satirist” are not mutually exclusive categories. What if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) existed during the time of dinosaurs and succeeded at preventing their extinction? Massive beasts would be with us today, thus thwarting the course of nature, that same nature that eliminated these prehistoric species before the advent of humans. Therefore, the purpose of
to dismiss it is a deliberately exaggerated untruth, a red herring, a misleading semantic argument, an ad hominem “Greta’s a snowflake” attack dishonestly put out as an excuse to ignore global warming in general and possible industrial involvement specifically. –WilliamW. Steven Longenecker comment: William, your full e-mail was arguing in good faith and we appreciate it. But we do have to note that the quasi-official Doomsday Clock, maintained by the nonprofit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , does adjust its “minutes to midnight” based on climate change – among other clearly apocalyptical threats like all- out nuclear war. And they are not shy about big claims about how close the world is to disaster. I’ve read lots of literature on both sides on all cases. Both sides have quacks, and both sides have people with decent facts and positions. But like statistics, facts can be spun to prove your point no matter which side you are on. Bottom line: stop telling me what to think and what to do. Let me live my life my way, and leave me the hell alone. – Eric M. Steven Longenecker comment: We couldn’t agree more, Eric. As Ronald Reagan said in 1986: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
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November 2019
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