Political Correctness

[Aglifter]

I'll back you up on the environmental concerns -- admittedly I'm biased since I'm in biotech, and every species is essentially an economic goldmine -- what isn't realized by many people, is that to get oil out of ANWAR, etc will take DECADES -- it takes time to build an oil field, especially in those conditions -- and oil has, and needs to have, a short life as an energy supply -- even the oil companies are trying to get away from it -- and have reduced exploration/field development for those reasons -- as long as oil is needed, the Sauds, and all the other oil tyrants will have billions and the license to commit terror, throw little girls back into fires for not wearing veils, etc.  
     With that said, I don't believe in public lands -- you want to see horribly managed land, look to BLM lands in the US, or what the Soviets did to land in Russia -- that, and behind every government park, is, usually, a family forcibly removed from their land, which is the kind of thing we started the Revolution over.

[sslater]

Rocnerd,
I have to respond to some of the things in your post.  I don't know you, but as a Rohrbaugh Forum member I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're a reasonable guy.

Ethanol as a motor fuel is a loser economically.  It takes more energy to make corn into a fuel than the fuel supplies.  Without the $.51 per gallon federal government subsidy, nobody would buy M- or E85 fuel.  The hydrogen economy is a long way off for lots of reasons.  Fuel cells ditto.

The main reason that the world runs on petroleum is that it is far & away the most energy-dense fuel generally available.  (I'm not counting nuclear power because nobody's figured out a safe way to put a reactor in every home!)

The days of environmentally irresponsible oil companies, mining operations, & timber operations are gone.  At least in this country.  And a big share of the credit for this is the environmentalists like you who speak up AND buy stock in those enterprises.  Shareholders vote.  Capitalism works.

The big problem is what happens in other countries, especially Third World, where they have been given a free pass to pollute and rape the environment in the name of leveling the playing field.  Their apologists say it's only fair to let them do what the Developed Western World did in the past to become developed.  Bull!!  Why can't mankind ever learn from past mistakes / experience?

I've come to hate the terms "Liberal" and "Conservative". Some years back, Thomas Sowell wrote a book in which he proposed better terminology.  Instead of Liberal, how about "People with an unconstrained viewpoint"; and "People with a constrained view of the world" for Conservatives?
In other words, Liberals see the world as they wish it could be.  Conservatives see the world as it is.  We need both kinds of people  - and we need a willingness on both sides to work for the betterment of our world.  That's the tough part.  Like the song says, "R-E-S-P-E-C-T".
  

Steve

[theirishguard]

Anwar is such a small area in a very large park in the biggest state. That is part of the problem, we have done nothing to solve the energy problem in this country since the 70's.
We need to look at everything including oil to get us away from foreign energy.
Clear cuts in our forest land is a good thing if done right, clean up all the trash. Thats where all the game goes to eat. I've hunted the mountains in the west for years. The clear cuts are very small compared to the forest land available in a given area.
Tom

[Rocnerd]

sslater I agree with you.  As to the economy of ethanol I will have to defer to you as I am afraid I really only know enough to make me dangerous (usually just to myself).  I do think though that if the oil companies had been a little more open minded that we would be further along with the hydrogen and fuel cell based options.  But of course that is hindsight.  If only that cold fusion in a beaker really worked.

aglifter, as far as the public land is concerned I feel that our public land is for the most part well managed from what I have observed.  Besides I would rather it be public than another strip mall.  If you don't want the gov in charge that's fine, I know lots of places that are available to the public for a fee that are privately owned.  As far as families being forced off land to start a park, I wouldn't be surprised if that has happened, but I bet just as many parks were started by families donating land to the government in order for parks to be formed.

I