The Difference Between Real and Radical Environmentalism
One of the local newspapers once covered me (some nine years ago) referring to “radical environmentalism” and after that they assumed in their coverage that I must be opposed to anything that would involve being a good steward of this planet we’ve been entrusted with.
The New York Times has a great piece about the difference between real and radical environmentalism.
[Texas] has nonetheless emerged as the nation’s top producer of a commodity prized by environmentalists: wind power. Eager developers are covering its desolate western mesas with giant turbines. The world’s largest wind farm began operations in Texas this month, and the state now has close to three times as much wind capacity as Iowa, the second-ranked state.
This achievement puts Mr. Perry’s state in odd company. The race for clean-energy leadership is on — and big red Texas is going head-to-head with the gung-ho greens of California. That state has thrown itself into solar power and now leads the nation by a huge margin; it has also aggressively pursued energy efficiency.
…Texas’s secret, besides strong winds and lots of land, is its lack of regulation. Wind developers rave about the fact that, in essence, they need few state permits to build a turbine farm. They deal mainly with local officials, who are generally permissive (energy, after all, is a well-loved commodity in Texas).
California, by contrast, has all but stifled wind developers. The state built several big wind farms in the 1980s — but has added very few since, because of the cost and delays of complying with stringent state environmental regulations. The early turbines killed thousands of birds, for instance, and that memory lingers.
Here locally, one government agency has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars registering their level of carbon emissions with a think tank who charges agencies to do so. All of that spending has done precisely zip, zero, zilch to create cleaner air or water for our community. It’s an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars.
I have little use for environmentalism for the sake of environmentalism. Being good stewards of this planet is important. But if you’re going to spend my money on cleaner air, cleaner water and ending reliance on foreign oil, I want real spending for real results.
