This article also appeared in the Washington Times on April 18, 2013.
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Americans must no longer ignore false realities and double standards that threaten our health and prosperity.
Private sector errors and transgressions generally affect limited numbers of people and ecological values, whereas government actions have far wider impacts, and regulators get away with misrepresentations and behavior that would ensure punishment for corporate executives.
Clinging to antiquated ideas or technologies in free markets will consign companies to oblivion. By contrast, blinding reality often has no effect on government programs, and cloaking policies in rhetoric like environmental protection, social justice, renewable energy or sustainable development can grant them nearly eternal bliss.
These truths are especially self-evident in two assertions that continue rationalizing government powers, programs, expenditures, and harm to people and planet.
The 1970s-era Club of Rome “peak oil” thesis assumes we are rapidly exhausting the oil and natural gas on which modern civilization and living standards depend. However, 3D and 4D seismic, hydraulic fracturing and other technologies have unlocked another century of petroleum, giving us decades to develop new technologies that will not require perpetual subsidies and environmental sacrifices to prop up “renewable” energy technologies.
We may eventually run out of fossil fuels, but only when we exhaust our ability to innovate – or government prohibits innovation and makes even state and private lands and resources off limits.
“Man-made global warming disaster” claims have likewise foundered on rocky shoals of reality. Even as carbon dioxide levels have “soared” to 395 ppm (0.0395% of Earth’s atmosphere), average global temperatures have not budged in 16 years, and hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts and sea level rise have shown no statistically significant variance from century-long averages or fluctuations.
Moreover, “Climategate” and other revelations have demonstrated that United Nations climate change pronouncements are based on computer models that are no more reliable than palm reading; “studies” that were actually environmentalist press releases, student papers and hikers’ anecdotes; and papers by closed cabals of self-interested scientists who jealously guard their raw data, computer codes, methodologies, power, prestige and funding.
And yet, while even the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is finally recognizing the newly emerging “consensus,” the Environmental Protection Agency continues to rely on obsolescent IPCC documents to justify economy-punishing regulations that it claims will prevent CO2 from “endangering” human health and welfare. In the process, EPA ignores extensive science that doesn’t support its “findings” and illegally prevents peer review of its analytical work products, even by the agency’s own Science Advisory Board.
The EPA, White House, Interior and Energy Departments, Fish and Wildlife Service, and other federal agencies also employ oil depletion and climate chaos to rationalize wind, solar, biofuel and other programs; exempt favored programs from environmental laws; and condone job-killing restrictions on coal use, the Keystone XL pipeline, and onshore and offshore drilling.
EPA claims its regulations will save thousands of lives, which it values at $9 million each. However, it unilaterally raised vehicle fuel efficiency mandates to 54.5 mpg by 2020, forcing Americans to travel in cars that are smaller, lighter, less crash-worthy, and likely to injure and kill many more people. It also illegally exposed human test subjects to what it says are lethal doses of diesel engine pollutants, and ignores how its rules raise poor families’ costs of living and force businesses to lay people off.
Unemployment brings poor nutrition, increased stress, and higher rates of heart attacks and strokes, spousal, child, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, and premature death. This is especially true for older Americans who have lost jobs, end up on welfare, have limited prospects for new full-time work, or must hold several jobs below their skill level and previous salaries, in this anemic, hyper-regulated, hospital Green economy.
Ethanol programs mean millions of acres of farmland must produce energy equivalent to what could come from oil and gas prospects that government has put off-limits. EPA now promotes E15 gasoline (15% ethanol) and demands that refiners blend in “cellulosic” ethanol that does not exist. Even more corn is thus turned into fuel that gets 35% less mileage per gallon than gasoline.
Just to meet current ethanol quotas, Iowa-sized acreage must be planted in corn and nourished with billions of gallons of water and vast amounts of fertilizers and insecticides. Food-to-fuel has tripled corn prices in just eight years, bringing wealth to corn growers but skyrocketing costs to poultry, egg, meat and fish producers, families with hungry children and aid agencies trying to save starving Africans.
“Eco-friendly” wind turbines maim and kill millions of birds and bats every year – eagles, falcons, hawks, whooping cranes and others. But Fish and Wildlife exempts wind turbine operators from protected species laws and helps them hide the gruesome statistics, while other agencies ignore adverse effects on people’s health from incessant turbine noise and flicker.
The examples are legion. It’s fortunate that ruling elites have double standards, or they wouldn’t have any standards at all.
Legislators and regulators would never tolerate such behavior in the private sector. Citizens should no longer tolerate it in our government.
Great article. It is poignant this article appears four days before Earth Day April 22–which maybe should be a national day of mourning.
Benita Dodd, Vice President of The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, wrote a column April 19 which parallels Paul Driessens article–“Earth Day: For Many, Not Much Cause for Celebration” . To many have no idea of the millions unnecessarily killed in the name of saving the planet.
Two items immediately come to mind. The ethanol program annually uses 5 billion bushels of corn the past few years. We know chickens and pigs live exclusively off
corn. It may be a bland diet; but humans also can live on a corn diet. Our 5
billion bushels of corn has to be able to feed at least 100 million or more.
Add in food for fuel programs in other countries and this terrible waste has to
be a loss of food for at least 200 million and most likely 500
million.
Another planet saving gesture was the forced removal in 2010 of villagers in Ghana from their homes so tree forests could be planted on their property to use as carbon offsets. Similar programs may have taken place in Indonesia and New Guinea in order to promote food-for-fuel feedstock.
James Rust
fuel.
I do agree with what Mr. James H. Rust says is right: Environmentalism is a dubiously ideological and philosophical doctrine that done little to protect both humans and the environment.
However, I do not believe in the political-shell-game sort of system called democracy (perhaps I shall call it “de-MOCK-racy/demo-CRACY/de-MOB-cracy”), because it may cause political, social and economic uncertainties that affect various socieites, cultures, and economies around the world. – J.P.K.
Do you fully understand why Barry Obama Soebarkah in reality is trying to enforce new
limiting regulations on weapon-carrying citizens, while tearfully declaring to the world that a political game is played by his opponents to destroy his “good” intentions (which are as false as possibly imaginable) to eradicate the criminals who wield their weapons indiscriminately just to kill?
In fact he is busy to erect a kind of home guard as a private army of well armed leftists
who will obey him blindly, while the real army is further amputated through serious fund cutting.
So the real army won’t be able to Constitutionally defend you against Pinocchio’s home
guard; Americans take note!
You have to defend yourself with the weapons the Constitution allows you to carry and use them against criminals who will always be able to get the arms whenever they
want to kill you or somebody of your family!
Barry will be able to put all his dirty red/green tricks and plans through the works, as
Congress and Senate have shown to be spineless puppets in Barry’s hands.
That is how this lying communist muslim-loving NAB, expects to destroy the US as he said he would do, already before his first election triumph!
Don’t let your country be destroyed even more than Barry already accomplished.
Barry doubtless will be known in modern history not only as Pinocchio, but as well as the worst President far behind even Carter!
Dear readers, I have to rectify the following sentence as written yesterday:
“That is how this lying communist muslim-loving NAB, expects to destroy the US as he said he would do, already before his first election triumph!”
It should have been:
That is how this lying communist muslim-loving NON-NAB, expects to destroy the US as he said he would do, already before his first election triumph!
The NON in NON-NAB is eminently important because it stands for Natural Born American which a President of the US should be.
Natural Born American means you must have both parents as American citizens, which is not the case for Barack Hussein Mondale Dukakis Gore Kerry Sotero Obama Soebarkah or whatever other name he takes on to hide his false self and thus he should never have been chosen and sworn in as President of the US.
Sorry I have bothered you with this name-giving to clear up the mistifying Pinocchio Barry.
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2011/oct/18/barack-obamas-new-full-name/#ixzz2RCIo7EdZ
Yes, I agree on that. And do not forget to challenge vigorously the satanic worldview that continues to haunt various societies and economies around the world.
Keep it up, please. – J.P.K.