I attended an Earth Day function once back in the early 90s, during President Clintons first term. It wasnt something I had a burning desire to do so much as our company was using the occasion as a photo opportunity. The event was attended by Mr. Clinton, Vice President Gore, a senator or two and a cadre of other lesser government types.
I dont recall any of the pontifications that day but it was certainly entertaining trying to pick out all the Secret Service agents. The venue was a beautiful waterside park where the Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay. Ive heard, but have not confirmed, that anytime a president is speaking for any length of time by an unsecured body of water, the water is bombarded with sonar waves to deter would-be psychos from slipping in behind the president under water. Unfortunately, non-psycho fish also suffer the consequences of the sonar, ironic for an Earth Day celebration. Back then global warming wasnt the buzz phrase it is today. To be sure it was being studied, modeled, projected and discussed at high levels but it didnt factor into election results and you couldnt get rich by flying all over the globe promoting conservation. Now both these things are possible.
So how did we get to where we are today? At first the issue was largely seen as a yes or no matter. Democrats found the issue struck a chord with that faction of their constituents who routinely had bark on their clothes from all the tree hugging and conversely Republicans gleefully portrayed the issue as the opportunity for a whole new layer of oppressive government bureaucracy and regulation.
As more data became available from the army of scientists toting wheel-barrows of grant money it became difficult to ignore the one-sided preponderance of evidence. However, projected temperature gains of a few degrees Celsius over the next century didnt garner the massive change in public opinion that some hoped for. Enter the 2004/5 period and the introduction of a newer, scarier term, global climate change. Predictions of greater numbers of stronger hurricanes, deadly tornados and longer droughts could be found in every corner of the media.
The rhetoric toned down a notch when the following two years turned out to be rather mild. A swell of doubters reasoned that the climate is always changing; that it is always either on an upward trend or a downward trend.
The state of the debate now seems to be whether climate change is man-made or from natural causes and if it is man-made, can we actually do anything to change it back? I know you can find ample evidence to support which ever side you believe in. Ive decided not to give the matter more attention until I see Mr. Gore move out of his 29,000 square foot house and buy a solar powered rancher in the Midwest.
Its hard to quantify the reverence for nature that folks near the coasts have. Its as though they believe the whole distance between the coasts to be wasteland. Every time I drive back to Moundsville I pass by hundreds of thousands of acres of forest and habitat. Many of these areas will remain in this condition due to terrain. I think of that every time Im standing in front of a roomful of people at a public meeting discussing whether a wet spot in a logging path should be federally protected.
I love the world God gave us and I believe we are to be good stewards of our precious gift. I also believe common sense should be a mandatory requirement of anybody with the authority to set policy. Global climate change may or may not be an eminent threat to our existence, the really smart people will tell you they cant tell yet. Until we know more, plant some trees, pick up a bag of trash once in a while and take a bucket of sand to the beach each time you go to help offset the rising sea level from when the polar ice caps melt. And have a happy Earth Day!
I dont recall any of the pontifications that day but it was certainly entertaining trying to pick out all the Secret Service agents. The venue was a beautiful waterside park where the Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay. Ive heard, but have not confirmed, that anytime a president is speaking for any length of time by an unsecured body of water, the water is bombarded with sonar waves to deter would-be psychos from slipping in behind the president under water. Unfortunately, non-psycho fish also suffer the consequences of the sonar, ironic for an Earth Day celebration. Back then global warming wasnt the buzz phrase it is today. To be sure it was being studied, modeled, projected and discussed at high levels but it didnt factor into election results and you couldnt get rich by flying all over the globe promoting conservation. Now both these things are possible.
So how did we get to where we are today? At first the issue was largely seen as a yes or no matter. Democrats found the issue struck a chord with that faction of their constituents who routinely had bark on their clothes from all the tree hugging and conversely Republicans gleefully portrayed the issue as the opportunity for a whole new layer of oppressive government bureaucracy and regulation.
As more data became available from the army of scientists toting wheel-barrows of grant money it became difficult to ignore the one-sided preponderance of evidence. However, projected temperature gains of a few degrees Celsius over the next century didnt garner the massive change in public opinion that some hoped for. Enter the 2004/5 period and the introduction of a newer, scarier term, global climate change. Predictions of greater numbers of stronger hurricanes, deadly tornados and longer droughts could be found in every corner of the media.
The rhetoric toned down a notch when the following two years turned out to be rather mild. A swell of doubters reasoned that the climate is always changing; that it is always either on an upward trend or a downward trend.
The state of the debate now seems to be whether climate change is man-made or from natural causes and if it is man-made, can we actually do anything to change it back? I know you can find ample evidence to support which ever side you believe in. Ive decided not to give the matter more attention until I see Mr. Gore move out of his 29,000 square foot house and buy a solar powered rancher in the Midwest.
Its hard to quantify the reverence for nature that folks near the coasts have. Its as though they believe the whole distance between the coasts to be wasteland. Every time I drive back to Moundsville I pass by hundreds of thousands of acres of forest and habitat. Many of these areas will remain in this condition due to terrain. I think of that every time Im standing in front of a roomful of people at a public meeting discussing whether a wet spot in a logging path should be federally protected.
I love the world God gave us and I believe we are to be good stewards of our precious gift. I also believe common sense should be a mandatory requirement of anybody with the authority to set policy. Global climate change may or may not be an eminent threat to our existence, the really smart people will tell you they cant tell yet. Until we know more, plant some trees, pick up a bag of trash once in a while and take a bucket of sand to the beach each time you go to help offset the rising sea level from when the polar ice caps melt. And have a happy Earth Day!
