THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 35, February 16, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PLAYING GOD & STEALING LAND
By Alan Caruba
THE POLITICAL AGENDA OF THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS: RUINING AMERICA'S ECONOMY IN THE NAME OF SAVING
ENDANGERED SPECIES FROM EXTINCTION -- DEPRIVING PEOPLE OF THE USE OF ALL PUBLIC & PRIVATE PROPERTY IN
AMERICA -- THWARTING THE EFFORT TO REDUCE AMERICA'S DEPENDENCE ON MIDDLE EASTERN OIL
FULL STORY:
What could possibly be more arrogant than to think that humans should determine which species continues and which goes
extinct? Or that humans can, in fact, keep a specie from going extinct?
A news item in the February 20, 2006, edition of U.S. News & World Report noted:
“Citing concerns over climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
last week began reviewing whether polar bears should be declared a
threatened species. If they are, federal regulators would be required to
consider the impact on the animals before ruling on such matters as
industrial emissions or fuel economy standards.”
I submit that is such madness and idiocy that the mere stating of the notion polar bears are going extinct or threatened by the
alleged melting of the Arctic is too bizarre for rational people to contemplate. That said, the USFW will dispatch people “to
collect data on polar bear population, distribution, the effects of climate change, and threats from development, contaminants,
and poaching.” Guess who set this nonsense in motion?
If you said the Center for Biological Diversity of Tucson, Arizona, you’d be right. Not exactly a hotbed of polar bear activity,
the Center asserts that, “Arctic melting could cause polar bears to become extinct by century’s end.” “Could” is the key word
here.
This is a splendid example of the way the environmentalist movement is forever cozying up to the federal government to get it
to spend your tax dollars on projects of such dubious merit that a school child would dismiss it out of hand. Polar bears going
extinct? The whole of the Arctic melting?
The last time I checked, the State of Alaska offered the wandering polar bears some 571,951 square miles, surrounded by 91,316
square miles of water in which to frolic. Alaska is the largest of all the U.S. states. Room enough for plenty of polar bears, scads
of caribou, all manner of wildlife, and even the occasional oil rig or two with which to extract millions of barrels of oil from ANWR.
Could it be all the worrying about polar bears has nothing to do with polar bears and everything to do with thwarting the effort
to reduce our dependence on the Middle East for the oil we consume? The answer is yes!
Environmentalists whose second greatest sport is playing God and whose first is getting laws passed to deprive people of the
use of all public and private property in America, have been playing this game for a very long time. As this is being written,
instead of just letting the Endangered Species Act go extinct, Congress is wrestling with ways to continue what is arguably the
single worst piece of legislation of the past thirty-two years.
How’s this for a record-setting level of incompetence? Since its enactment, the ESA has listed 1,300 species as endangered. Only
34 of these species have made it off the list and, of these, 9 are now extinct, 14 are now judged to have been improperly listed,
and 9 have been judged to have “recovered” to be delisted. That’s less than one percent!
The real story of the ESA is even worse than this appalling waste of tax dollars and the personnel to run about counting the
population of these species. The ESA has been used to destroy the livelihood of thousands who worked for the northwestern
timber industry, turning some communities into ghost towns. The U.S.A. actually imports timber from Canada, despite having
an abundance of it here.
The ESA was used to bludgeon the farmers in Klamath Falls, Oregon, when the water they needed for irrigation was shut off to
protect a suckerfish!
The examples of how the ESA has been used to deprive Americans of the value and use of their private property are endless.
The United States of America has got to rid itself of the folly of “saving” various species while decimating the lives and
livelihood of Americans in the name of some fish or some owl, some wolf or some bear.
Ninety-five percent of all the species that ever called Earth home are extinct. Let’s show some care for those that share the Earth,
but let’s not throw millions at their alleged survival because some environmentalists want to ruin our national economy.
America is not Disneyland where all the animals and fish sing and dance. America is the home to people who farm, who harvest
trees, who graze livestock, who do all the hard work of providing us the food and other things we need.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
© Alan Caruba 2006
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume VIII, 2006
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues