by Robert M. Traxler
“Millennials, and Gen Z and all these folks wo come after us, are looking up and we’re like ‘the world will end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change, and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?'” — United States House of Representatives Alexandra Ocasio Cortez 2018.
History teaches us that the much sought after Northwest Passage, an all-water route across North America, was believed to be found in northern Canada. An ice-free opening was discovered, and a few ships made the passage to China and its lucrative trade; many were trapped in the ice with the loss of all hands. Climate change (warming) changed the ice thickness for short periods of time in the 19th century.
History teaches that explorers from Scandinavia established settlements in Greenland, around 870 AD, lived in them for 20 generations, then disappeared. The consensus that is because of climate change making it colder, fish and whales relocated, and it became harder to raise the cattle and crops necessary to survive.
An old saying is that history started the day we are born; humans tend to see history in the short term in our own lifetimes. Israel was founded in 1947 by the United Nations, by the way, not more than 2,000 years ago as we find in historical documents.
Native Americans have made war with each other for centuries before the white man arrived on the North American continent. Which Native American group owned what land area when, who has a claim to original people status in what areas, are questions one should ask, but it is not politically correct to do so.
Slavery existed before the white man enslaved the first black man in the Americas. Native Americans joined Europeans, Asians and Africans in the practice of slavery. No one can condone slavery, but we must realize it did not start in 1619 in the Dutch colony that is now the United States as the 1619 project teaches.
History teaches us that it existed among Native peoples in what is now the United States of America and the rest of the world for 14,000 to 11,000 years before 1619, but who cares? We are not allowed to question politically correct history. Progressives will be angry that this has been pointed out and cite the treatment of original peoples. Their treatment was horrible, even criminal, but it does not change history before the first European arrived in the Americas.
We should look to history to evaluate future actions, not necessarily to repeat it, but to learn from it. Climate change has existed before man, or humans or persons (we must be politically correct), inhabited the earth. Current belief is that an extermination event happened before we have any record of human life that killed the dinosaurs. Current science tells us that the deserts were once oceans in the time before humans; the climate changes.
Quite frankly, we must be concerned that we are spending trillions on programs based on global climate change that we have no control over. Like it or not, China, and India and increasingly Africa pollute more than Western Europe and North America, a good bit more and increasing.
Progressive political correctness dictates that we export pollution to poor, massively populated areas, effecting more folks than our paltry 4% of Mother Earth’s humans. The progressives are patting themselves on the back, receiving awards and decorations for reducing carbon in our nation and Western Europe, while massively increasing worldwide carbon emissions.
Symbolism over substance is the goal; ignoring the deaths of millions of poor folks from respiratory diseases in Asia, the Asian sub content and Africa is the norm to our progressive friends — denial is not just a river in Egypt. Industry and environmentalists joining together to reduce carbon in our nation is a marriage made in nirvana.
The corporations pay a tithe to the progressive groups; the United Nations and the environmental groups give the corporations political cover, all the while overall carbon increases worldwide.
Time to wake up and accept the one planet concept and look at the environmental facts; we have met the enemy, and it is not us. My opinion.
Hey Bob, this is an awfully wishywashy piece that says nothing of substance and displays a severely stunted understanding of earth science. Do you believe that carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gasses or not?
RMT,
I can somewhat agree with you, at least to a degree. I believe we have placed entirely too much weight on the fluctuation of temperature and the variance of the atmospheric conditions. This shift in focus has allowed us to dismiss and ignore the reality of the error in our methods.
The unintended effects from modern mechanization’s over the past two centuries are undeniable. The wasteful over-reliance on “fossil” fuels as the primary motive source in our industrial propagation, source of warmth, and transportation propulsion are undeniably detrimental. This poisoning of the planet and in turn the health of humanity is compounded by the over and mis-use of petrochemicals in nearly every industry.
The lazy over-dependence on these sources in the guise of a quick buck are in actuality an exercise in false economy. A crude analogy is that we are in essence “defecating the bed” while lying in it and ignoring the resulting illness. It is also akin to an obese diabetic individual continually relying on sugar as a source of sustenance. It is more than apparent that these methods are unsustainable and untenable going forward.
The poisoning of the Land, Air, and various bodies of Water is beyond obvious at this point in time. The impacts on the health of humans, plants, animals and the entire ecosystem of the planet are undoubted. The avenues we take to wean humanity off of these addictions and detoxify our environment are the only parts left that are debatable. There are no perfect solutions, no single simple answer. I believe we can all acknowledge that the status quo has been to the detriment overall.
I find it ironic that you mention the history of enslavement. In an attempt at saving space, I won’t debate the effort toward another false equivalency in the dismissal or justification of the level and types of slavery in this land. Although, I will expound on the reality that is the modern enslavement of the mind and in turn the soul of individuals.
A pitfall in a majority of mankind is polarized thought patterning. In essence, pretending that things are either true or false, black or white, right or wrong, yes or no, ones or zeros, us vs them. This comfortable and dismissive way of coasting through life is capitalized upon by our political and “thought” leaders, masters of marketing, and other persons in power. They exploit us by pitting defined groups against each other in a time tested binding of control. These mechanisms are reinforced through the representative patterning of team sports and other various representations of false dichotomy.
The current political climate bares this out on almost every front. Most folks do not even honestly consider a topic, they mindlessly regurgitate what they have been indoctrinated with in an attempt at “scoring” on the opposition. Thus proving themselves “correct” and dismissing while forfeiting their own right to freedom of mind.
As to the current focus on greenhouse gasses, it is apparent that these evolving conditions are in reality beneficial to the health of a majority of plant life. Though they are likely detrimental to the longevity of human and animal life. Perhaps this trend or cycle is a sort of defense mechanism or balancing act, in effect “flushing the toilet” of organisms unworthy of the privilege of dwelling in this fragile, imperfect, sphere.
Mr. Baloney,
I think you and Mr. Gless should be leader examples and ride bicycles, horses, or skateboards to lessen your dependence on “fossil fuels” and heat your domiciles with buffalo chips like the indigenous tribes of the plains instead of natural gas, fuel oil or the dastardly coal.
I prefer to live comfortably with gas and electricity. We now know oil and gas is produced naturally within the earth (per science) and not the result of decaying dinosaurs.
You could put solar panels and wind turbines across the country and still not produce enough power for the masses. But of course you’d be making China richer than we already have. And you’d still need oil to make the solar panels and wind turbines and plastics, pharmacuticals, electronics – you name it, it probably has oil or is derived from using oil.
Good luck with winter coming on, it gets mighty cold.
Mr. Bass Man:
It is ironically odd that you appear to have the inability to separately evaluate different sources of energy while concurrently lumping folks into the same group or team. On top of that, you are able to haphazardly imply that you have the whole energy equation solved. I am in awe of your mastery.
I share the view that natural gas is likely the most affordable and tenable heating option at the moment for our geographic location. However, I think it is rather languorous to lump it in with fuel oil and coal. They are obviously far dirtier and less efficient than the gaseous mixture that is primarily methane. If you could expand your perspective a bit, you might see that you are in fact a bit on the green side of things.
It is my understanding that geothermal is becoming a very viable HVAC method, even if only on a supplementary basis. You may want to look out though. It is likely that your preferred propagandist source of information funded by the American Petroleum Institute already has a hollow argument served up for you, in order to have a safe outlet to avoid independent thought.
I’m troubled by the assertion that combusting dried, partially digested, organic matter is somehow cleaner or more efficient. Perhaps this recommendation was in jest. You won a point against not only me personally. I think you also snuck one in on what may be another of your perceived enemy groups with the bigoted undertone.
I can assure you that my main mode of transportation is far more efficient than you could possibly imagine. When it is not viable I tend to practice carpooling. It effectively doubles the efficiency. I hope you are aware of the reduced energy impact and financial savings of properly insulating and sealing your home. However you may want to keep the garage open if you run engines in there.
Buffalo chips priceless, good thing reasonable minds came together to save that species. Just like the ones trying to save ours.
Mr. Gless,
Sir, thank you for your comment, what in the column is incorrect?
Bob, I strongly suspect that your scientific literacy is incorrect. Do you believe that carbon dioxide and methane create a greenhouse effect in our atmosphere?
Mr. Gless,
Sir, once again what is incorrect “scientific literacy is incorrect” is not an answer.
Thank you kindly.
Mr. Baloney,
I find “poking the bear” sanctimonious folks humorous as a way to expose Democrats and/or Greenies. They don’t disappoint.
Isn’t using slave labor to mine rare earth minerals to make vehicle batteries abhorrent? And knowing the electrification of the entire auto industry is putting the proverbial cart before the horse without an electrical grid capable to charge ridiculous?
And then there are the fires while charging! How many of you supporting and purchasing electrical vehicles are charging in your attached garage?
It may be a moot point because most manufacturers are rethinking the electrical craze, with EVs withering on the sales floors, making dealers cancel orders.
This is a classic example of government initiatives by liberals being a disaster. Free enterprise and entrepreneurs create what is needed better than any government program.
I think everyone should take a deep breath and meditate to lower the pressure of environmentalism disaster. We’ve been experiencing every type of disaster prediction for years and yet the oceanfront lots are at a premium. All weather is cyclical, and yet a teenager was the face of environment outrage.
The story is getting old and crying wolf every day is disgusting.
Anonymass man: Those are empty platitudes from you in place of honest critical thinking. Not sure how you can claim private enterprise can create a better national transportation infrastructure when everyone knows (or at least they should know) that Dwight Eisenhower’s federal government built our national highway system 70 years ago.
Mr. Gless, the auto industry was created by entrepreneuers, Henry Ford being at the head of the industry. It was not created by a politician, government program, or some think tank. The Model T took over the horse and led the way for freedom and cheap transportation for the everyday American.
Jake, I was speaking of electric vehicles and related activities associated with them. You go off on a tangent about the national highway system and Eisenhower. Without the automobile, highways wouldn’t be needed.
The trouble with Socialists/Liberals/Marxists is they can’t answer the subject in question and attack with another
subject entirely.
As for my identity as Bassman, I doubt there is a real Tony Baloney,
or FRWF. As much as I appreciate to read their responses, they are pseudonyms for real people, but you hardly comment about them. But I don’t expect you to, as liberals think alike.
I like Army Bob, a veteran, and I presume is a conservative. Mr. Traxler, keep up the great work. And keep poking the bear!
About vehicles burning down garages and in turn homes: A majority of them have been attributed to improper charger installation and inadequate structural wiring. It is certainly a critical issue when a lithium battery goes into thermal runaway.
Some may remember certain laptops and models of phones exhibiting this hazard. We have learned how to mitigate the issue, most everyone still uses these devices with little concern and minimal failure rates.
F-mo-co has destroyed far more structures with their multiple truck models. These vehicles exhibited a neglected yet obvious fault in the design of their master cylinder brake switch starting fires. For clarification, these were diesel and gasoline powered.
This unacceptable hazard went on for decades, and is still an issue even after supposed fixes. It is so much of an issue that if your homeowners insurance finds out you own a “tough truck” your rates will be higher.
Reality is proven out over time and through numbers. Anecdotal cases, while very real, are unable to reinforce hollow arguments in the end.
What has been proven time and again, is the lazy gullibility of inattentive folks as evidenced through brand loyalty. It is essentially the same mechanism as sports and now even political fanaticism. This is, of course, applicable to extremists on both ends. They just don’t think, they are afraid, and choose to follow in line.