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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_dux
Flash back 40 years to the start of the environmental movement in the late 60s and those wacky "tree huggers" who wanted to save the planet by regulating our lives.
Most of the waterways in the US were polluted and facing serious endangerment from the dumping of industrial and agricultural waste directly into our rivers and streams ...fish kills were at an all time high and medical evidence was compelling that consuming such fish posed serious health threats.
The smog was so thick in many urban areas from spewing of industrial toxins into the air and burning trash at open dumps that you could scrape it off your face after walking through an industrial part of town.
But oh no....the naysayers said...it would cost too much...you crazy environmentalists want to kill the economy in order to save the planet.
Well guess what....it worked and only the blind ideologues can deny the fact. The Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, etc.....have made a significant difference, not only in restoring and protecting the environment, but doing it in an economically sustainable manner that has led to innovation and contributed to economic growth.
Today, the impact of the ever-growing emissions of millions of tons of C02 and other greenhouse gases from power plants, industrial facilities and cars may or may not have a significant impact on the environment.
The options are clear...do nothing, like some proposed in the 60s, and hope that your conclusions are correct. Or act now in an environmental and economically sustainable manner, before it is too late. And if we're wrong, the worst that happens is cleaner industrial practices and fewer emissions.
Rachel Carson was vilified back then just as Al Gore is today...described as extremists and non-scientists who didnt know what the fuck they were talking about. Carson's legacy is now safe and enduring (I would encourage members to read Silent Spring)....Gore's legacy is yet to be determined but it will be through such leadership that both displayed that the earth may be a better place for our children and grandchildren.
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The same thing was said about London during the Fog years, and also when the Thames was so polluted it smelled so bad Parliament could not convene. That was way before the 60's tree hugger movement, and heck not even in the US of A.
I'm in agreement that the worst thing that happens is a big benefit. But you should want that already without having to resort to a bogeyman. You do good things because it is right, not because if you do wrong things you go to hell.
Conservation for me is important inasmuch as it affects my wallet. I don't spend money to waste it which is why I drive a practical small car instead of the car that I want to drive.
Science is about reproducing verifiable results, not guessing. I see the global warming scare as at best a guess.
I also dislike the idea of models that are being used to doom and gloom the future. If the models work so trustworthy, then you should be able to go back in time to known measurements and hit those marks time and time again.
You want people to reduce, tell them to reduce, give them incentive to reduce. To tell them that some bogeyman will come and get their children is intellectually dishonest.
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