Why Conservatives Should Support a Carbon Tax by Byron Smith

      Conservativism, as defined by Edmund Bourke, the father of conservatism, is based on the desire to hand on to our children a world that resembles the one we received from our parents, on the assumption that human knowledge and wisdom is incapable of handling too much change all at once.

      On that criteria, today's "conservatives" espouse the most radical position possible: that we should continue to alter radically the chemical composition of the oceans and atmosphere.
       I am a conservative. I wish to pass to my children a world that is still somewhat recognizable. This is not possible with continued use of fossil fuels.

      The idea of a fee and dividend is not slapping a price on a product I don't like. It is simply reflecting the true cost of emitting carbon to ensure that the polluters don't get to dump their waste into the atmosphere causing everyone to suffer as a result. In no other industry are waste products able to be dumped without charge. Charging polluters for their waste is an idea thoroughly compatible with conservative economic assumptions.    

Saw this quote from Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring":

We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the Earth. - Rachel Carson

Hard to believe she wrote this in 1962, and wasn't even thinking about climate change. 

James Cameron's statement on climate change

Director James Cameron spoke at the American Geophysical Union meeting last month in San Francisco. Here's some of what he had to say. There's more at the link below, but how's this for a sobering statement:

"What’s it going to be like when the number of wildland fires doubles or triples over the next half century? What’s it going to be like when we have these droughts? What’s it going to be like when the 100-year event becomes the every-year event, which is what we’re right on track for.

"The scientists have been consistently wrong about climate change in the following way: They’ve always been too conservative. The things that are really happening are happening faster than the predictions, than even some of the most pessimistic predictions. Scientists are human. They’re going to have a denial mechanism. They’re, in a way, almost hesitant to say how bad it could be because they don’t want to be considered alarmists. But it’s consistently coming out worse than even their dire case predictions. So when you’ve got the rightwing demagogues saying that the scientists are wrong? Yeah, they’re wrong. They’re wrong the other way. It’s much worse than they’re saying."

http://sites.agu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Cameron_Web.pdf

Ok, this is me now, not James Cameron: Can you believe that there are STILL people who say that climate change is not happening (have they stepped outside lately?), or it's not us, or even worse - that it's it's too big and hard to do anything about? It's time to move past these people, and make some big bold changes. Let's make policies and elect officials and choose energy providers and everything else we need to do individually and as a nation to go from fossil fuels to all renewables. That's it. That's what we need to do. We will need a full-on combination of government, industry and the free market to make this change work. The alternative is much much worse, so let's enjoy life, and let's get to work!

What's in a quote?

Ok, here's a quote that everyone knows:

    "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

How about this translation instead:

 "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."

    Although the first quote is the popular form of this quotation by Lao-tzu, the Chinese philosopher who lived around 600 BC, the second one is a more correct translation from the original Chinese. Rather than emphasizing the first step, Lau Tzu regarded action as something that arises naturally from stillness. Another potential phrasing would be: “Even the longest journey begins where you stand.”  [Quotation notes from Michael Moncur, 2004] 

A reason to always choose organic produce

There are lots of reasons to choose organic produce. If you want one more, here's a story about how nicotine-based pesticides damage bees, and appear to be contributing to "Colony Collapse Disorder". If we lose bees, a lot of our food supply is going to disappear. Not a good thing.  The main reason to choose organic is not just that it's healthier for you and your family (which it is) but that it's A LOT healthier for the whole environment, upon which you and your family depend for food and water - and life.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/29/science/la-sci-bees-pesticides-20120330