 Ecophobia: Environmentalists as the New Environmental Disaster By By COLIN FLAHERTY Guest columnist Published: Apr 29, 2008 There's no hope for me now. I am in the final stages of a disease for which there is no cure. Or even a support group.
I am an ecophobe: I imagine environmentalists creating catastrophes all the time all over the world. I see great floods, famine, disease and death and behind each is the same thing: A grinning environmentalist reveling in the mayhem as if it were magic.
Before you commit me, hear me out. Then I'll go quietly.
The headlines say we are paying record amounts for food. There are shortages, even riots. My diseased brain tells me that because of the enviros, great swaths of land around the globe that used to grow food are now devoted to the eco-scam of growing corn for ethanol. Thus causing global chaos in the food markets.
Warning: Misguided faith in the ability of markets to produce food and energy is just one of the early signs of ecophobia. So is using the term “market.”
Energy is the next stop in the ever-tightening descent into the ravages of this terrible affliction. Prices for oil and gas are also at record highs. But instead of putting the blame on the greed and avarice of oil company executives — where it rightly belongs — all I can come up with is how environmentalists have shut down the production of oil, natural gas and other energy in this country. Including the cleanest and least expensive: Nuclear power.
And now they wonder why energy is in such short supply.
They tell us in addition to corn, we need wind and solar and chimps on treadmills. All of which cost about 10 times more than nuclear. Except for the chimps: They pay their own way by writing environmental articles for major magazines.
Ecophobia is even infecting my perceptions of the great questions of war and peace. If every city in America had its own nuclear power plant, does anyone really think we would give a damn what our enemies did with their oil?
No.
But the high priests of environmentalism assure us the next generation of solar is just 20 years away. Praise Gaia and pass the mushrooms.
The list goes on: The flooding of New Orleans? Every clear thinking person and newscaster knows that was caused by the colossal incompetence of the Bush Administration in general. And George Bush in particular.
We ecophobics imagine that the Sierra Club and other enviros filed lawsuits to stop the rebuilding and repair of the levees, which lead to their collapse.
We ecophobes may be troubled in other areas, but we are savants when it comes to memory.
Hate traffic? Enviros stop new roads and force us to spend user fees from gas taxes on largely unused public transit. They still drive Beemers but acquire green credits from kids riding bikes in India.
The business pages blame greedy mortgage lenders for the collapse of the housing market. Even at the early stages of ecophobia I knew environmentalists were completely distorting the supply of housing by destroying plans for new homes by the tens of thousands. And imposing costs of $100,000 per home on those who did have the patience to build them.
Ecophobia is often preceded by ecoparanoia. Because every time in the last 10 years when I read that fewer and fewer people could afford a home in California, I'd also read several stories about the latest environmental victory shutting down affordable new homes. “Connect the dots,” we scream.
Medical professional should recognize this as a cry for help. Or at least stepped up medication.
The list goes on and on: Space shuttle disasters? Enviros forced NASA to remove CFC's from the foam. Water pollution? Enviros forced gas companies to add MTBE to fuel for more than a decade before we figured it got into the water, stayed there, then caused cancer.
In the meantime, I cannot help but continue to imagine that when we shut down the production of roads, energy, food and infrastructure, we should not wonder why we do not have enough roads, energy, food and infrastructure.
As you can see, I need help. Until it arrives, I'll be self-medicating with massive doses of environmental reporting on global warming on CNN and bootleg videos of Al Gore's “Inconvenient Truth” dubbed in Chinese. The rampant green house gases are clearly exacerbating my woeful mental state.
In the meantime, I just read Idaho and Alaska are just two of the places with record snowfalls and longer winters this year. I think I'll go snowboarding.
There's still a few ski lodges the eco-freaks have not burned down.
Yet.
Colin Flaherty is a San Diego, Calif., writer whose by-line has appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines around the world. During stints at UPI, San Diego Business Journal, San Diego Reader and other places, his columns, reporting and feature writing have been recognized with more than 50 awards. |
