"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." - - - William Blum

June 30, 2006

DarkSyde tries to inspire, rather than scare, us into reacting productively to global warming:

"There are many dangers associated with global warming. What's critical to understand is they often work together in ways that are genuinely alarming to contemplate. A near term, moderate rise in sea level of even a few feet, combined with a virtually instant increase in the intensity of hurricanes, both products of global warming, means that the deadly and destructive storm surges that accompany hurricanes would be greater and reach further inland. Gulf states, from Florida to Texas, would be especially vulnerable to this synergy. The Houston shipping channel, gulf energy platforms, the port of Miami; all could be knocked out of commission for months at time, or cease to exist. Imagine several million refugees fleeing a wrecked, inundated coastline at the same time a significant fraction of oil imports and other essential supplies are cut off, and you have some appreciation for the near term consequences of climate change.

"Government sponsored research into alternative energy and greater fuel efficiency might just pay off in every way imaginable, even if the climate change worries are totally off the mark! Does it make sense to allow our entire economic fate to be held in the ruthless palm of the House of Saud and the bin Laden family, protecting their profits and keeping a tenuous hold on dwindling, finite supplies of oil half a world away with the blood of our youth and the treasure of our nation? Or might it make sense to lead the world in new technology and create jobs at home using a proven fusion of science, business, and policy? The former means preserving the status quo---along with permanent bases in Iraq and elsewhere for the next fifty years. More of the grim tragedy, never-ending expense, and unpredictable chaos we've seen far too much of for the last three years. The latter approach took us from Explorer 1 to the Sea of Tranquility in a decade.

"The United States is, if anything, a science and technology nation. We can lick climate change and solve a bunch of other problems, if we make it a priority. And, if the party in power throws their arms up in the air whining "we can't", then maybe it's time for We the People to elect some leaders who can."

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