The Shoelets each have a T-shirt that has that saying on the front of it. As 10 year old boys, there isn’t a caption I can think of, that is at the same time funnier or truer. At this age, the Shoelets are completely oblivious to the consequences of their actions. They focus every moment of their lives in the moment that their lives happen to be in, at the moment.
The same could be said about many in the environmental community. Too often they get focused on one specific issue or goal and don’t understand the implications or ramifications of their actions. Case in point. This article from the Agency who shall not be named.
The article tells about how environmentalists wanted to take the island of Macquarie back to its pristine condition. Problem was, the island had a bunch of cats, rats, mice and rabbits that had inadvertently attained residence via boat transport over the years. Well, “pristine” certainly couldn’t include feral cats so folks went about killing them off. Then, a funny thing happened on the way to “pristine.” Without the cats to keep them in check i.e. kill and eat them, the rabbits, mice and rats were now living in paradise. While they lived in paradise, the vegetation of paradise was taking a beating. With the vegetation taking a beating, the birds that relied on it also took a beating.
After figuring out that their first “fix” didn’t work, the environmentalists are going back for another try. This time they will get the mice, rats and rabbits all at one time. Of course, this is going to cost them over $16M for the 49 Sq. Mi. island not to mention that the island has been set back many years in an environmental sense.
In the same vein, here comes the world’s favorite Goreacle Acolyte, Jim Hansen. He’s moved from being the world’s cheerleader for AGW to becoming the world’s hysteric for AGW:
President ‘has four years to save Earth’
US must take the lead to avert eco-disaster
Hansen’s big concern this time? The ice caps are melting even faster than we thought which will make the seas rise even higher than we thought and we don’t have any more time to wait!!!!!! Geez, does this guy ever peruse the internet?
I find it interesting that Hansen has put a 4 year time frame on responding to his nonsense. I’m torn on the reason. It could be that as more and more evidence comes out refuting the link between carbon dioxide and climate change, Hansen may believe his gravy train is about to run out if he doesn’t get it codified by Congress. On the other hand, it could be that he already believes that Obama will only be a one term President and the next one won’t be as gullible.
I also find it interesting that Hansen took his plea first to the British and US science communities in an attempt to “stir the pot:”
As a result of his fears about sea-level rise, Hansen said he had pressed both Britain’s Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences to carry out an urgent investigation of the state of the planet’s ice-caps.
The response? Radio silence:
However, nothing had come of his proposals.
If rational thought and sound science were applied, I have no doubt that Congress would shelve Hansen, along with his increasingly questionable dataand focus on more pressing matters. The problem is that Congress isn’t a whole lot different than 10 year olds, they focus every moment of their lives in the moment that their lives happen to be in, at the moment.
20 years from now, after spending billions of dollars, short changing the growth of the economy and showing absolutely no greater control over the earth’s temperature, someone will look back and ask why Hansen, President Obama and Congress led us down an obviously flawed path. The only answer they will receive, the answer that Congress provides for nearly every issue that in bungles (see Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, TARP etc.) will be, “It seemed like a good idea at the time!”
