Monday, February 16, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
This Man Writes Good Sense......
> >
> > I am in correspondence with an 12-year-old fan in California, and have
> > just mailed my 12th reply to him about Sparrowhawk and other matters
> > (Sparrowhawk is his favorite novel). In his recent letter to me, he
> > wrote that he'd competed thru his school in a Lego robotics
> > competition to design an "environmentally friendly" car. This kid,
> > Benjamin, attends an excellent private school (his father is a Los
> > Angeles attorney), and writes better than most college graduates. He
> > plays classical piano, writes short stories, and is currently taking
> > Latin. He asked me what I thought of "environmentally friendly" cars.
> > I was stuck for a way to reply without pounding him on the head -- out
> > of respect for his intelligence and in regard for his age -- and
> > decided there was no "soft" way to answer his question and perhaps
> > counter what rubbish his teacher is exposing him to. So I concluded
> > that I should answer with my usual no-holds-barred verve. He proudly
> > reads my letters to his parents, who have encouraged our
> > correspondence, but I don't know whether or not they're
> > "environmentally friendly." Up to now, I refrained from bringing
> > politics into the correspondence, but there was no way around it this
> > time. Following are the relevant paragraphs from my reply to him.
> >
> > You might find my remarks amusing or otherwise.
> >
> > Ed
> >
> >
> > ------------
> >
> >
> > You asked what I thought of “environmentally friendly cars.” I try not
> > to think of them. Climate change is as old as the planet, which has
> > undergone countless cycles of warming and cooling for millions of
> > years. Evidence has been found that dinosaurs roamed the land around
> > or in the Arctic Circle, and that Florida had the mean temperature
> > range of Alaska, when man did not yet exist. For example, during one
> > cooling cycle, when the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps grew, ocean
> > levels dropped so much that the Mediterranean Sea contained only half
> > the volume of water it has now. Any random, single volcanic eruption
> > in the past has spewed more “greenhouse gases” and other matter into
> > the atmosphere that what man has produced in his entire, 10,000-year
> > recorded history. Yet, the planet and atmosphere have always
> > recovered, and always will.
> >
> >
> >
> > If there is a warming cycle occurring now (and more and more evidence
> > is bursting that thesis), it is natural and has nothing to do with
> > man’s activities. The scientists who say this, and who also point to
> > the sun’s own cycles of growing hotter and cooler to explain any kind
> > of warming and cooling on earth, are not heard from; many of them have
> > actually received death threats from environmentalists, or have lost
> > their jobs, or are shunned or blacklisted by universities and
> > scientific publications and by scientists who have surrendered their
> > minds and integrity to pressures from colleagues and the government.
> >
> >
> >
> > So, there is no such thing as an “environmentally friendly car,” or
> > anything else produced, valued and used by man. The term
> > “environmentally friendly” is both meaningless and vicious. To the
> > environmentalists, man himself is “environmentally unfriendly.” The
> > logical aim of their philosophy is man’s extinction; they would have
> > criticized cavemen for warming themselves around a campfire, and for
> > killing a bear for food and clothing. They have consistently opposed
> > nuclear power, the safest and most efficient means of generating
> > electricity, and now they are opposing wind turbines and solar arrays
> > and other wasteful, gimcrack “green” solutions because they claim they
> > also “pollute” the planet or destroy the landscape or endanger wildlife.
> >
> >
> >
> > I? In answer to the fraud being perpetrated on this country and on the
> > world, I plan to leave the biggest “carbon footprint” I can. As an
> > American poet once wrote: “The world began when I was born, and the
> > world was mine to win.” That could serve as the single lyric of my own
> > personal overture. The environmentalists would chant: “The world was
> > here before you were born, and you are an unwelcome alien on it. Be
> > gone.“ But, whatever you’re told by your teachers about “global
> > warming,” do not accept it on faith, but reserve judgment until you
> > know enough to question their assertions with facts. When you are
> > lectured on global warming and related subjects, remember that you are
> > not being /taught/ anything that will advance or improve your life,
> > but /indoctrinated/ with ideas you are not permitted to question but
> > which will impede, shorten or destroy your life and the lives of
> > everyone you know.
> >
> >
> >
> > Forgive me for dwelling on this subject at such a length, but it is
> > one about which I feel very strongly.
> >
> >
> >
> > Yours in Liberty, Ed
> >