Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Say No to Earth Day

Some companies are touting Earth Day, and I think it is time set things aright there. That day is just a politicized beat-up-on-industrial-technology-and-humans Day. Here is a letter to send to any company, business or organization that touts Earth Day:


Dear Sir/Madam,


I don't approve of those who tout Earth Day or cater to those who do. It provides a vehicle for indoctrinating more people in phony and false concerns and beliefs. In the end, Earth Day is about making it harder for people and companies like yours to do what you do every day - fill a need for people.


Robert W. Tracinski at the Earth Day 2000 Countermarch Press Conference put it well:


And there’s one main reason why Earth Day is so widely accepted and uncontroversial. People think that environmentalism just means being for clean air and clean water—and who could possibly be against these things. But the actual message of Earth Day is much deeper, and much different. In fact, we believe that the environmentalists don’t really care about clean air and clean water. Their real goal is to destroy technology and to subordinate mankind to nature.


Watch the crowds of environmentalists who will gather on the Mall tomorrow, and notice that they have never met a form of technology they liked. Every kind of new technology is attacked, from nuclear power to genetically modified foods. But they also oppose every old, existing technology, from fertilizers and pesticides to the internal combustion engine. And they always place the blame for every problem on one basic target: the Industrial Revolution.

...
The fact that we are able to eat, without having to spend all day out in the fields toiling behind a hand plow—that’s what we owe to the Industrial Revolution. The fact that we can clothe ourselves, without having to spend all day bent over a hand loom—the fact that we can build houses, without having to spend all day swinging an ax—the fact that we can have the tools we need to work, without having to spend all day hammering away at a hand forge—these are all benefits bestowed on us by the creative minds of the Industrial Revolution....


... We think the environmentalists are opposed to industrialism, not because they care about any real or imagined harms to human life, but for precisely the opposite reason. They are opposed to industry because they do not care about human life. Instead, they want to sacrifice human life and happiness for the sake of a kind of primitive nature-worship."


... The real message of Earth Day is that technology is evil—and the reason the environmentalists regard technology as evil is that it allows humans beings to dominate nature. Their goal, by contrast, is to make man subordinate to nature. Here’s how one environmentalist put it: “We are not interested in the utility of a particular species or free-flowing river, or ecosystem to mankind. [These things] have intrinsic value, more value—to me—than another human body, or a billion of them.”


... In light of these views, the name of one radical environmental group is admirably exact: “Earth First!” The implication is: humans last. Any philosophy that has such a disregard for human life can only lead to destruction.


If we want to put humans first, where they belong, we have to understand the value of industry and technology and stand up to defend it.


Instead of kowtowing to Earth Day, celebrate Industrial Revolution Day by offering discounts on products made by your capital equipment that have made our lives richer, safer, and more pleasant and enjoyable.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

against the Earth? You are crazy.

This piece is nothing but illogical syllogisms and childish propaganda.

You are all for science when it gives you the technological goodies -- cars, planes, TVs.

But you refuse to listen to science when it tells you the things you don't want to hear -- that evolution is real, that global warming is real, toxic industrial byproducts cause cancer and genetic defects, vital resources like ocean fishing are being exploited beyond regeneration.

you would NEVER say something like sex or guns are either ALL good or ALL bad -- so why would you take such a patently illogical view of technology? It's a good thing that is being misused. You are being just as extreme as the strawman you are attacking of nature-worshiping Druids. Grow up & come up w/ conservative solutions instead of just attacking environmentalists and denying reality.

Anonymous said...

against the Earth?"

Then you miscontrue the article entirely. YOU are crazy to assert this.
Against the Earth? No.
Against those who misappropriate 'the earth' for an agenda that is not good for the earth, for people or for our country? Yes.

"But you refuse to listen to science when it tells you the things you don't want to hear -- that evolution is real, that global warming is real, toxic industrial byproducts cause cancer and genetic defects"
You are engaged in a huge strawman. Nice try, but I've not disputed any of those statements per se. but 'global warming is real' is a meaningless statement. Nobody disputes whatever the thermometer sas. Natural climate change is real and ever-present. The earth is warming over some time periods, but our blog has noted that global temperatures retreated since 1998, and USA is not much warmer than it was since the 1930s. The impact of man on the climate is not as great as natural climate variability, and disputing that is to dispute 4 billion years of earth history.

The AGW question boils down to simply- HOW MUCH warming does man's CO2 addition impart on the earth? The answer: About 1.5C from a doubling of CO2 concentration, an amount of CO2 that will not happen this century, as it requires vast increases in CO2 emissions that resources limits themselves forbid. Estimates beyond this are not based on anything firmer than speculative models. Yet this trend I point out is more benign than fearmongers assert - tiny impact on sea level, no net increase in storms, and a biosphere that will use CO2 as fertilizer and increase plant range and diversity.

As for:
"vital resources like ocean fishing are being exploited beyond regeneration."
This is exaclty the dubious propositions that should be shunned, yet are brought in during Earth Day. See, we should first THINK, and your proposition is proof that you want eco-gibberish to be bought into without thinking.

Now - THINK - if the oceans cannot regenerate, then there would be no animals left to do the regenerating. Except in those few cases where species have become extinct, this is not the case. Life is more abundant and species loss much less serious than the fear-mongers assert (cf. The Skeptical Environmentalist).

So I would retort - you are all for 'science' as a talking point, but not for letting your assertions get vetted by real science. If you did, most environmental extremism would collapse under the weight of its own anti-scientific contradictions.

"you would NEVER say something like sex or guns are either ALL good or ALL bad -- so why would you take such a patently illogical view of technology?"
Another strawman. What has been asserted is that industrial society has been hugely beneficial and we shouldnt beat up on it. Nobody said it was perfect, just under-appreciated.

"Grow up & come up w/ conservative solutions " - Then you haven't read our blog article THAT PROPOSES A SIMPLE AND DIRECT SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING! Look it up on our blog. 400 nuclear energy power plants = 50% reduction in Co2. The #1 enemy of the planet and our prosperity are the anti-nuclear environmentalists, they are opposed to practical ideas that can move us beyond the fossil fuel age.