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> Why would we gut policies that save thousands of lives and eliminate tens of thousands of cases of childhood asthma, bronchitis and emphysema annually? Why wo
by rapnie 8y ago
> Why would we gut policies that save thousands of lives and eliminate tens of thousands of cases of childhood asthma, bronchitis and emphysema annually? Why wouldn’t we want more efficient cars when we’re still importing three million barrels of oil a day from OPEC countries like Libya, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela?
Countless articles like this ask the same kind of questions over and over again. Leaving the reader to ponder the answers to them.
I'll answer here: People in power earn their money that way.
- mirimir 8y agoIt's not just "people in power". People have voted for them, in support for such policies. How has that happened?
- tyfon 8y agoThe politicians (at least in the US it looks like from abroad) are subject to legal corruption aka lobbyists and PACs. That is where they are getting the money not from the voters. They will say whatever they can to get votes then turn around the day after elected to ask their patrons what to vote for.
- gaius 8y agoThat is where they are getting the money not from the voters. They will say whatever they can to get votes then turn around the day after elected to ask their patrons what to vote for. Exactly this. The Clintons went from stony broke to a $250m fortune and no one quite seems sure how. Even the lucrative speakers fees from Goldman’s can’t explain it. Love him or loathe him, no one can deny that Trump doesn’t need to do that kind of chicanery.
- pjc50 8y ago> Trump doesn’t need to do that kind of chicanery .. because he's funded by laundered Russian money instead? https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundr...
- oblio 8y agoDoesn't Trump park half of the Secret Service 100 times a year at his golf resorts at huge costs? Besides the various scandals regarding his Russian contacts.
- Fjolsvith 8y agoThat Secret Service doesn't get vacation when he's at the White House. And they never slacked off for other presidents. Why does it seem that government expenses are suddenly Trump's fault?
- pjc50 8y agoPeople much prefer a convenient scapegoat from the Others than actually doing the hard work of fixing a problem. And the easiest way to deal with a problem like global warming is to deny it exists, then all the hard tradeoffs of fixing it go away. After all, so long as it's not your house burning down, does it really matter?
- mirimir 8y agoRight, and who cares about those snowflakes in California ;) But damn, what about when we see lots more hurricanes and tornadoes? Maybe some sour grapes?
- Fjolsvith 8y agoWell, with all this global warming, it seems to me that the storms that produce tornadoes have been much fewer this year (from my Kansan perspective). The storms have been milder but with greater rainfall. Sweet grapes for sure.
- mirimir 8y agoI wasn't remembering whether any projections have been as specific as Kansas. But a quick search says likely drier, but no clear impact on tornado frequency and intensity (increased atmospheric instability, but decreased wind shear).[0,1] As I understand it, decreased wind shear follows more or less from lower temperature gradient between equatorial and polar regions. Also, more days over 38°C. 0) https://www.kansasforests.org/resources/resources_docs/climate-change-ks%202016.pdf https://www.kansasforests.org/resources/resources_docs/clima... 1) http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc07/Feddema_KEPC.pdf http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc07/Feddema_KEPC.pdf
- Fjolsvith 8y agoThe local news reports otherwise: https://www.kansas.com/news/weather/article212365444.html https://www.kansas.com/news/weather/article212365444.html Also a severe weather analysis for Kansas: https://www.weather.gov/media/ddc/SWAW_2018_Final_UPDATED.pdf https://www.weather.gov/media/ddc/SWAW_2018_Final_UPDATED.pd...
- nikanj 8y agoAs evidenced by the "rollin' coal" phenomenon, destroying the environment is a way to signal how manly you are.
- mirimir 8y agoDamn, I had forgotten about that. But really, isn't it just a form of trolling?
- gear54rus 8y ago> Practitioners cite "American freedom" and a stand against "rampant environmentalism" as reasons for coal rolling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal My god. Every time I think I've seen all the possible dumb shit people do something like this inevitably comes up.
- mirimir 8y agoFunny you should say "god". Some argue that environmentalism is inconsistent with Genesis. In that God gave us everything to use as we see fit. But others say that God made humans responsible for managing the Earth. So that environmentalism is indeed Godly. That makes more sense to me, not that I'm particularly religious.
- halfdan 8y agoIt's interesting - yet eating a single apple cast us out of paradise. Maybe the symbolism here is: Don't take what wasn't yours for the taking (i.e. earth's resources). For the religiously inclined, consider that this planet earth could become our "paradise". Destroying its resources may just cast all of us out of paradise once again.
- mirimir 8y agoNot that it's likely to change anyone's mind, but I do recommend The Making of a Conservative Environmentalist by Gordon K. Durnil (Indiana Univ., 1995).[0] As I recall, one of the core arguments was the equivalence of abusing a child, and poisoning them by polluting the environment. So if one is evil, why not the other? 0) https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gordon-k-durnil/the-making-of-a-conservative-environmentalist/ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gordon-k-durnil/t...
- mirimir 8y agoOK, what about President Trump? Does be or his close family have major investments in Lukoil, Yukos, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz?