Wednesday, June 24, 2015

I so wanted to believe this

When I read this editorial on Earth day, "The State of Our Planet Is Better Than Ever," I so wanted to believe it.  The author, an economist (what they know about the earth's condition - I hope - is better than what they seem to know about our ever fluctuating economy), named Stephen Moore is all about how Earth Day is overrated.

There is no looming environmental disasters about to send us back to the middle ages . . . or worse . . . to extinction.

And he makes some good claims:

1) Natural resources are more abundant and affordable today than ever.

That made sense to me.  I mean us living in America - even those of us in the lower middle class - enjoy a life style that is far richer than 99.9% of people who have ever lived in the history of the world.

Then just today I saw this about the earth's water supply.

So much for the one natural resource we should have more of than anything (after all isn't our planet 75% water?)!

But Moore - his rhetoric and biases are quite clear if you bother to read his editorial - refries to anyone who attempts to argue that bad things are happening "proven shysters" - I am sure would refer to NASA as a surefire shyster organization.

And Mr. Moore, I just saw this on the news this morning: water level at the Hoover Dam dips to record low.  Yep, water is more abundant in the western part of the US than ever before. Not.

2) Energy - the master resource - is abundant.

True enough.  It's a major drag in our household when the wifi speed crawls to a snail's pace at the end of the month.  This is the biggest problem we face in our household.  And we have come a long way since my grandmother and her kids had to huddle around the wood stove in their home in Red Lake Falls on cold winter nights.

True enough.  Though when I see our monthly energy bill, I can't help but think how it's more than my father made in an entire month (if not several months) when he and my mother were first married (in a house that didn't have running water by the way).  So energy is more abundant than ever.

That should be celebrated.  And we should guard against it going away . . . as we are more dependent upon energy than ever before.

3) Air and water.

See NASA's report on the depletion of the major underwater supplies.  And just in case you don't trust those shyster's at NASA, here is a report asking the simple question "How Can Our Blue Planet be Running out of Fresh Water?' from the BBC.

And as far as air goes, tell that to the Chinese . . . who now have more energy (dirty energy by the way) than ever before in their long and glorious history.




Or is this yet another shyster?

I'm starting to think that maybe Moore is meaning by "shyster" anyone who doesn't think like me!

4) There is no Malthusian nightmare of overpopulation.

It certainly does appear that global poverty is on the decline.  Which would be a major triumph for everyone on this planet.  If overpopulation isn't a problem, though, why are we soaring past 7 billion right now? Why is that China and India have more honor students than America has students (and our current students - the millennials - are the largest generation of American children ever.  Baby boomers are around 72 millions while millennials are at least around 87 million).

5) Food production is up vastly over where it was in the 1950s.

Moore hits this right on the head.  That's thanks to our amazing advances in science and technology and how it has improved the food production in America.  So before we start smashing those scientists for their dire warnings (those darn shysters again), we should also thank them for getting some things right (such as genetically modifying food and so on).

But who knows what the long range impact of all the pesticides and growth hormones are?



6)  Death and physical destruction from natural disasters has plummeted.

I guess Moore has turned a blind eye to some of these events, which have happened just in my 41 years on earth -

Katrina - 60 billion in insurance losses.

Tsunami in Japan - I don't know about insurance losses, but to rebuild it will cost 309 billion.

The Haiti earthquake - 200,000 dead.  This cost the US alone 195 million in aid.

In fact, if you look at the 25 greatest global disasters (here's a hint - the Black Plague comes in at #2! Right behind the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918) a whopping total of 14 have taken place since I graduated from high school.

Disasters have plummeted?  What planet is Moore living on?

Moore does conclude his editorial with this whopper -

Earth Day should be a day of joy and celebration that life on this bountiful planet is better than anytime in human history. The state of the planet has never been in such fine shape by almost every objective measure. The Chicken Littles are as wrong today as they were 50 years ago. This is very good news for those who believe that one of our primary missions as human beings is to make life better over time and to leave our planet better off for future generations.
Happy Earth Day.
And oddly enough, a couple days ago, I just read this: Earth entering its sixth mass extinction as hundreds of species near extinction.

And today, I just read this from the Lancet.

Now, I'm no doomsdayer.

I grew up with the shadow of The Day After Tomorrow (yes, I actually remember watching that post Nuclear War film with my mother) where the evil Soviet empire seemed inevitable.

And it never came to fruition.

Many other predictions never came to be either. 

But the great thing about all of these incorrect predictions is that there were numerous others proving them wrong as they said these very things.

So I'm not saying Moore's article is a bad thing.  We need that other opinion.  I just worry about he quickly dismisses anyone with a dissenting opinion with his rhetoric.  And some of his claims are ludicrously under-supported (if even supported).

I certainly hope many of these dire predictions don't come true.  But if you aren't trying to solve problems or at least keep an eye out for them, then you're just living with your head in the sand.  Ultimately that seems to be a better place than where Moore seems to have his head much of the time in this article!

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