Monday, December 22, 2008

Several Reasons to Hate the Sierra Club

By Alan Caruba

Now I know that everyone thinks the Sierra Club is all about saving the American bison or some remote forested area, but the truth is that the Sierra Club, along with a number of other major environmental groups, is all about making life as difficult and expensive for Americans as possible.

For example, here is what the Sierra Club told its members in a December 23 email that was titled “On President Obama’s First Day…”

They want him to start 2009 with a “clean slate” of energy policies that “would have an immediate impact on cutting global-warming pollution and spurring a clean-energy economy.”

First of all, there is NO global warming, so all of their suggestions are based on what is essentially A LIE. As for a so-called clean-energy economy, if you think you are going to light and heat your home or business based on the one percent of electricity generated by heavily subsidized wind turbines and solar farms, you are whistling in the dark!

Nevertheless, the Sierra Club wants Obama to:

“Reduce global warming emissions quickly by making it possible for over a dozen states to implement their clean car requirements.” Don’t think you’re paying enough for gasoline and other auto-related costs? Just wait until these and other States want to inspect your car like a NASA shuttle.

“Require new and existing coal power plants to limit their global warming emissions.” Again, there is NO global warming. The emissions the Sierra Club refers to have NO affect at all on climate. The Earth absorbs some 98% of all carbon dioxide before releasing it again into the atmosphere. That’s what the world’s oceans do.

“End destructive mountaintop removal mining by stopping coal companies from being allowed to dump rock and waste into valleys and streams.” The Sierra Club really, really, really hates coal. Mining companies are heavily inspected and regulated by state and federal authorities for safety and countless other requirements.

“Restore America’s international leadership in the fight to end global warming by publicly committing the U.S. to cut its CO2 emissions at least 35 percent by 2020.” Again, there is NO global warming. CO2 is the other most vital gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. There have been past eras when the CO2 concentrations were three times higher than present. Nothing grows without CO2. Reducing CO2 both limits the amount of energy that must be produced for a population that exceeds 300 million at present and would cripple the economy in the process.

Moreover, the U.S. has never ratified the Kyoto Protocol to reduce "emissions." Clinton never submitted it to the Senate because they went on record opposing it. It exempts China which is building a new coal-fired plant every week! Enough said!

Are you beginning to hate the Sierra Club yet? I certainly hope so!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just wonder if any of these so misguided carbon-haters REALLY understand the mechanisms and volumes and benefits and history of this precious gas?
Do they for instance, ever think why watering their gardens with a hose-pipe has much less effect than when a brief shower does so much more to liven-up the biosphere?
Could it just be that CO2 is collected by and dissolved in falling rain? In that case, if the earth was in a warming phase rather than the present cooling phase, would not warmer be better for these Sierra Club afficionadoes? Just think of greater evaporation caused by a burgeoning biosphere and yet more CO2 produced food for us all.
With this set of radical clowns in charge and affecting an impossible policy, we the truth sayers had better get set to fight those who would see our demise in a Socrates-like fashion. Should anyone offer you a drink this Christmas, the label beginning with 'H', don't take it!
So please,Alan and your team and fellow followers, have a wonderfull Christmas and successful New Year 2009.
I look forward to more of your stirring articles and comments.
Clive in Laoag City, Philippines

Dave's Daily Day Dream said...

To say that "global warming" is the new religion of the socialists is not new. It gives liberal thinkers everything they want. There is the notion that they are "helping", it will "protect" future generations and it costs them little or nothing personally.
It is the choice of the globalist because everyone must demonstrate their concern. It is the choice of the pantheist who sees the earth as "mother". Most importantly, it is the choice of the socialist who dreams of the ever increasing governmental supervision of our lives. GPS - easy to remember - global pantheistic socialism, it's almost here.

Guy said...

And to think that I used to support the Sierra Club. When I was younger, I bought into their hype, because back then, I think they really were about protecting the environment. But then, just like our government and the many other similar "environmental" organizations, they outgrew their purpose. When an organization (and this includes some corporations, in my opinion) grows to a certain point, it becomes more important to generate cash flow and keep the organization and it's people happy, rather than to fullfill the purpose for which it was created. The waste and corruption grow as the organization grows, and before long, it takes on a life of it's own. Groups like the Sierra Club, with the help of the EPA, achieved their original goals of cleaning up our rivers, reducing pesticide damage, and reducing auto emissions years ago. It was something that needed to be done, and I don't think many people would argue with that. Unfortunately, when they were finished with the original plan, they were left with a huge group of people, with a huge appetite for cash. They HAD to find another cause to pursue, in order to keep the donations coming in, or else they would all cease to exist. Our government works the same way .... once a department or program is created, it can almost NEVER be eliminated, and so even if they have no further purpose, they continue to fight for funding, and we get stuck paying for it.

So, the environmental groups like the Sierra Club, rather than scale themselves down to watchdog levels, created a new crisis to justify their existence .... Global Warming.

The lesson to be learned here is that many things begin with good intentions. The challenge is to maintain the focus on the original goal, and try not to deviate from the plan. Look at Social Security. While some (including me) may argue that it was nothing more than Socialism from day one, had the plan been followed, and the focus been maintained, we wouldn't have the mess we have today, and many of us would have a nice nest egg sitting there for our retirement. Letting it grow in size and scope, to encompass purposes other than those for which it was originally intended, ruined it for everyone, and they aren't done ruining it yet.

There just isn't much that private enterprise and the free market can't do better than the government ....

Alan Caruba said...

You've all made some very good points. The luxury of this blog is that I can just write what I think and let the chips fall where they may. It's good to know others share my skepticism and even the disappointment that accompanies once worthy causes gone wrong.

Doug said...

I see that our future ultra-green president is off on yet another Hawaiian vacation. To minimize his carbon footprint, I'm assuming he and the family rode their bicycles to get there.

How many (jet-driven) vacations has this guy taken since being elected? And this clown is going to show us the way to a carbon-free, Green America?

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha......

Gramfan said...

Mr Caruba,
I have been following you articles for some time now. I think they are excellent.Thank you for them.
You are not alone in your skepticism.
The 'science' is flawed and the proponents are hypocrites.

This is another battlefront for lovers of Western Democracies.
I just hope we can win this debate, and preserve our cultural heritage.
(Australia)

Alan Caruba said...

Thank you, Gramfan. It's quite flattering to be read in Australia and, as you may have noted, we have a follower in the Philippines as well. So we are all engaged in an international discussion about saving Western civilization from a whole new bunch of barbarians!

Unknown said...

Discussion is EXACTLY what is missing from the Climate Change issue. Mainly because that since the science can not be peer-reviewed it leaves it wide open to simple dismissal. Which is something that people who have an emotional investment in absolutely loathe!

Can we all treat and respect the environment better? Totally! But we don't have to force large amounts of taxation on everyone to do so! Simply making it worth their personal time to do so and change WILL happen.

Give me a discount on my garbage collection costs and I'd take the time to separate my waste!

Gramfan said...

Frank
It is sad that Gore and the IPCC etc have "decided" the science is settled. This should never be the case with science or most other issues,IMHO.

I like to separate "global warming" from what I call environment and ecology. I have been water-wise and power-wise for decades.Australia is a dry continent and many people are living with water restrictions.

I have been recycling and trying not to be wasteful for the same length of time.

I think the followers of Gore et al have deliberately lumped all these issues together to make you feel like and environmental vandal. I know I am not. I care for the environment but this is about much, much more.

Mr Caruba
Thanks for replying. I frequently send your pieces to many friends and they are well-received.

If you and your readers haven't come across Anthony Watts' site -
http://wattsupwiththat.com/ I highly recommend it.

progressisgood said...

How about giving the California farmers their lives back!?

Alan Caruba said...

Progress, check out the October
5th commentary about California that will be posted. It specifically mentions the insanity of wrecking the lives of CA farmers to "protect" the Delta Smelt.

Megan said...

You people scare the shit out of me. I truly hope you are not the majority of the world. Global human-caused climate change IS REAL and there is ample evidence to prove it. Do the research and find the truth. Glaciers are melting, sea level is rising, and the ocean only absorbs a fraction of the greenhouse gases we emit.

Alan Caruba said...

Megan, I have done the research for nearly three decades...the IPCC report is a fraudulent document filled with lies. There is NO human-caused global warming. Humans have nothing to do with the climate.

Get your head out of your behind and get a life.

www.climatedepot.com

Alec Neal said...

Thank you for your passion and commitment to your cause. However, you are hurting everyone, including yourself and those you love. Your willful participation in the deception of honest and decent people, so you can make money, is one of the reasons thousands of people die each day from a lack of basic resources. World War Three is a distinct possibility and still you persist. Don't even begin to think that you or those you care about will be spared from the calamity that is sure to consume the world in the near future, unless people like yourself have a change of heart.
The fact of the matter is we can find solutions to our problems. We have the capacity, like never before, to create a better world for ourselves and future generations. Imagine the possibilities. Please, reconsider your legacy. There is plenty of green$ on the other side of the fence.

Sincerely,
Alec Neal

Alan Caruba said...

Thank you, Alec, and I would like to order a box of whatever you're smoking or a couple of bottles of whatever you're drinking. It induces a feeling of moral superiority to anyone addressing reality.

The Sierra Club is not interested in saving the world. It is interested in stopping every form of development, agriculture, and anything else that can advance and enhance life on Earth for the human race.

Unknown said...

In seeking an accurate portrayal of the Sierra Club's sincerity I have read conflicting information from both the club's supporters and their opposition, all of which drips with either fanciful idealism or arrogant condescension and unveiled contempt. With such strong bias in each opposing argument, it's been difficult to get a clear picture of what this organization is really about.

However, I find that my personal beliefs coincide more often with the beliefs of those in support of the club than those who oppose it. Population growth is one example of an issue we must face sooner or later regardless of whether global warming is an inconvenient truth or a bogus lie. When and how we deal with it is something that I doubt we'll leave up to the Sierra Club.


No organization is innocent of self-interest, but I do not believe the Sierra Club to be sinister. Misleading? Possibly. I can't claim to know the minds of those who call the shots. As for the average member? They're in it because they care about something bigger than themselves and they feel compelled to act in accordance to what they believe is right.
That is an admirable quality, regardless of whether you share their beliefs.

Alan, I think it's important to keep in mind that humans are only one species of animal in a world where life depends on balance and diversity in order to flourish. Since the birth of our civilization we have done nothing but consume and expand. We are responsible for the mass extinction of species and habitat loss all over the earth as a result of our increasing demand for resources to sustain our exploding numbers. We have proven to be an invariably self-serving race, yet we hold ourselves in the highest esteem.

Precisely what have we done to earn the elevated status we have bestowed upon ourselves? What is our essential contribution to this biosphere that imbues us with such vital importance as to surpass the collective value of all other forms of life?

-Ryan of San Carlos, CA

Alan Caruba said...

Ryan: I suspect you have passed through years of Green brainwashing in the schools you atended or have just absorbed the babble that comes with living in California.

No, the population does not have to be reduced. That's the kind of thinking behind most genocides. Global warming was an is the greatest hoax of the modern era and a warning that Greens will say and do anything to impose their beliefs while generally ignoring them in their personal lives.

Humans do not need "balance" whatever that is. They need a steady source of food and decent shelter and clean water. They do not "consume" too much if you mean they are consuming more than you or the Sierra Club thinks is right.

I hope you see the light one of these days...which means not swallowing Sierra Club lies that will leave this nation with insufficient sources of energy to the point our economy collapses along with a decent life for you and everyone else here in the USA.