Observations From the Back Row: 7-25-11

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“De Omnibus Dubitandum”
Everthing we are told should bear some resemblance to what we see going on in reality!

Endangered Species paperwork to cost $206,098,920

According to the Budd-Falen law offices:

On July 12, 2011, the Justice Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) announced “an historic agreement” which will require the American taxpayers to pay $206,098,920 to just process the paperwork deciding whether to include over 1000 plants, bugs, worms, and other assorted creatures on the Endangered Species list. None of this money goes to on-the-ground conservation; this taxpayer funding is just to process petitions filed by only two, out of dozens, of radical environmental groups who think newts and moths are more important than the elderly or our children.

The two environmental groups referred to are Wild Earth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity.  Here is the complete text of the memorandum from Budd-Falen:

SAN ANTONIO -- Ever since a federal judge threatened to seize control of the Edwards Aquifer to force compliance of the Endangered Species Act, resolving the issue has eluded public officials for two decades.ce a federal judge threatened to seize control of the Edwards Aquifer to force compliance of the Endangered Species Act, resolving the issue has eluded public officials for two decades.

Feds can't make up minds on mercury bulbs - Ban outdoor lights while mandating use indoors
In what critics call a classic case of the government working at cross purposes, Washington is forcing residents across the country to install mercury lighting inside their homes while phasing out mercury lighting outside homes to protect the environment. Yes, you read that right.

The world's biggest problem? Too many people 
 Our unsustainable population levels are depleting resources and denying a decent future o our descendants. We must stop the denial

Overpopulation is also fueling desertification and further deforestation around the world. We can dream of drastically decreasing overconsumption by the wealthy, but even realistic potential decreases are voided by sheer human numbers in all countries, rich and poor. Our unsustainable population levels are depleting resources and denying a decent future to our descendants.

What to do? Stop the denial. Perpetual growth is the creed of a cancer cell, not a sustainable human society…..Promote and support family planning education at the family and community levels as a cheap way to reduce poverty and severe climate change. Support organizations that are trying to get contraceptives to the 200 million women in the world who lack and want them, and help them obtain equal rights, education and job opportunities. Access to contraceptives and reproductive freedom are rights, not luxuries, that ultimately benefit all of humanity. Vote for leaders who vigorously promote those humane solutions. And demand that media start educating the public every day on the role played by the unsustainable human numbers behind environmental degradation and human calamities — and start covering the solutions. The public needs a constant message: "It's time to stop growing and become sustainable."

My Take – The fact that the Harte’s and the Ehrlich’s were involved in this piece is enough to let you know it’s loony. The real question however is this; is this filled with logical fallacies, and if so; what are they and what is the response.  The reality is that this population scare has been used to justify more and more central planning government control  over everyones life.  The next article should give you the answers.  The important thing to remember is that this answer has been known for years.  Bjorn Lomborg outlined the reality of population growth in his book, The Skeptical Environmentalist,  and takes the Ehrlich's and their scare mongering ilk to task.  To be green is to be irrational and misanthropic....sustainable is just another greenie word for misanthropy. 

The World Is Not Overpopulated
An opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times declared the world to be overpopulated and even compared humanity to a cancerous growth. This reasoning is not only disturbing, but is almost certainly incorrect, as well.

The world, indeed, has a lot of people. By the end of 2011, there will be nearly 7 billion people living on the planet. But population growth rates will not sustain at those levels. An analysis by The Economist describes how each subsequent billion will take longer and longer to achieve, until population growth eventually plateaus at around 9 billion people by 2050.

Editor's note - I saved these next two pieces for last because they are especially long....but very insightful and informative.  The answer is always in the history.  Give me the history and I will give you the answer.  

Jacoby's Hidden History of American Conservation By William Walter Kay
American environmentalism existed in a clearly recognizable form in the 1860s. The movement, then known as conservationism, became a dominant political force in the 1885 to 1915 era. Some salient features from that era: The overwhelming, and explicit, consensus of conservationists was that wilderness could be protected only by imposing martial law.

Plimer's Heaven and Earth: Global Warming the Missing Science By William Walter Kay
Ian Plimer is a world-class geologist with a successful career in mining and academia. The author of 120 scientific papers and seven books, Plimer has earned many commendations including two of Australia’s top scientific awards. His 493-pageHeaven and Earth: Global Warming the Missing Science (1) demolishes the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis. What follows is an attempt to lathe this text down to its 7,500-word filament.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax -

Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

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