Tautology of the Skeptical Sinner

Both, apparently, found this story on Rush Limbaugh’s site.

“Just yesterday — this is not anything that hasn’t happened before but it just continued to happen. Just yesterday, we learned that owners of land will not be able to develop it in Montana because of a grouse, a grouse population.  The ultimate aim is to get the grouse put on the endangered species list so the owners of that property can’t do diddly-squat with it.  There’s oil underneath that land, and there’s an opportunity for developers to make residential areas out of it or what have you.  So there are people active in this country, doing everything they can to destroy the country’s ability to grow, to remain prosperous, and to remain a superpower.”

For those of you, like me, who prefer their news without frothing, the Denver Post has a more complete story here: http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_9589531

Short summary: The departing Bush administration are trying to open up more oil drilling sites in Montana, Colorado and Utah. Many of these sites are home to dwindling populations of native species, and as such, development of this land has environmentalists deeply troubled.

What it comes down to is we either break our dependence on oil or we break a few eggs to continue sating our need for gasoline. It truly is a shame that these lands are protected by innocent animals, and not some native human population we have no problem displacing. Or invading.

Mankind has been devouring this world since the dawn of time, if environmentalists are correct, and believe that mankind needs to stop doing irreperable harm to the ecology to avoid long-term, unforseen and devastating results, then we can’t just draw circles on the map and say “ok this part’s protected”.

The population of the U.S. is growing, and will continue to grow exponentially. Short of a pandemic that only affects the human population, we’re going to continue to adversely impact nature. Species will continue to become extinct and greed, sloth and indifference will speed up that process.

In the meantime, however, expending energy time and funding on trying to save every single piece of flora and fauna is going to be a) insanely futile b) insanely expensive. Does this world really miss the Dodo? The same liberal minds who support ecologically sound policy, are also thinking people who for the most part support the theory of evolution. (If not, they can just pray for a divine solution and peacefully go about their day). Nature will adapt as it always has.

We need a compromise. We can’t go willy nilly wiping out everything that stands in our way of a quick buck, but we also can’t realistically save everything specie on the planet, unless we cut population growth to zero. Immediately. (By the way, I’m a huge supporter of zero population growth - I just don’t see it happening any time soon)

So do we really need to protect ALL of these endagered species? Or should we give them a timetable to adapt or die?

And will the earth really miss the Sage Grouse? The Tambalacoque seems to be getting by just fine without the Dodo.

Responsible. Sane. Measured.

Sadly, the only ones getting the money to make noise about one view point or the other are extremists.