Friday, October 06, 2006

'Course, three minutes to Wapner.


Overdroid made a great observation on my last post-


Sure, and things are so great in Russia now. Also - I'm not to worried about the social pendulum as I am in the scarcity and environmental pendulums. In fact, they aren't pendulums - they are finite resources that won't swing or bounce back when gone (take you pick - greenhouse gasses, oil, water, or all of the above).

He's right. Finite natural resources may not be able to wait on the political power pendulum (PPP) swinging back towards those that are more friendly to a scientific approach to the natural world.

Jerome a Paris has a diary up at Kos today that touches this very issue. Jerome takes apart a Financial Times column on politics and global warming:

Politicians have understood that appearing to be at least greenish is good for their election prospects, but to them it's just one issue among others. The message of the column is there: that "tick the box" approach is wrong, and the issue of global warming requires their full, total and undivided attention*.

And it comes from one of the most influential voices of the London "beltway". Not a green wacko. Not a single-issue activist. A respectable, moderate member of the establishment.

Outside of a few uber-conservative politicians who stubbornly insist on reciting industry talking points to cloud environmental issues those of who support stronger governmental action towards protecting natural resources are winning the fight for the hearts and minds of the general public. We just need to translate that into legislative action. This is where we have to watch the clock.

But what about conservatives? The recent spat about Civil Rights that emerged from political ads running around the country might give us a hint as to where they'll be on this issue in a few years. As an example; two weeks ago the National Black Republican Association ran ads in Maryland claiming that Martin Luther King was a Republican.

Conservatives have a tendency to drag their feet and stubbornly fight the reality of a given situation until the last minute where they gloriously pirouette and claim the opposite position, the position they've been fighting all along, as their own.

In twenty years conservatives will claim that it was they, not progressives, that fought to limit greenhouse gas emissions and warned of a looming peak oil crisis.

Then we can pat them on the head and tell them them "that's nice."

As long as we don't have to do it while standing in three feet of water.

7 comments:

Overdroid said...

I think when scarcity hits it will be enough to turn the tribal divide into an actual civil war. I was thinking about Iraq lately and why there is a civil war there now. I think part of it is the building tension from lack of water, lack of electricity, etc. Put Americans on an electricity budget and see how well they get along. I don't think another depression would bring this country together. Just the opposite. Especially if it happened with the do-nothing-during-a-crisis group in charge. But I could be completely wrong. Then again it's hard to imagine the sort of things we're going to have to face in 50 years if we don't stop emissions.

Don Snabulus said...

I don't have much optimism that mankind will change its exploitive behavior towards the environment. The Kyoto protocols would barely put a dent global warming and even countries who signed on to it are fighting it tooth and nail trying to find any pro-pollution loophole they can to keep their corporate overlords happy.

Better buy some waders.

Dean Wormer said...

Overdroid-

I don't think another depression would bring this country together. Just the opposite.

Especially if it happened with the do-nothing-during-a-crisis group in charge.


Ah, but the last Depression ushered out the do-nothings and led to the rise of the do-somethings.

I think cognitive dissonance ends at the personal, particularly one's personal safety.

Dean Wormer said...

Better buy some waders.

As long as we don't live in a coastal state we'll be safe.

Ahem.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Что-то такое слышал, но не так подробно, а откуда материал брали?

Anonymous said...

большое спасибо!Взяла себе тоже-пригодится.