Well, it was my understanding that the global warming debate was decided. Over. Finished. I thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, that climate change scientists have pretty solid and concrete proof that human activity causes climate change. What I don't understand then is why there are so many letters to the editors in my crazy little town about how "they don't believe in environmentalism" or how they think that this extremely long, cold winter we just experienced is proof that global warming doesn't exist, and it's simply over-zealous environmentalists trying to find a way to shut down industry. IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY - uneducated, ignorant people making blanket belief statements with no knowledge of the facts - and then the paper publishes their letters.
Case in Point #1: Environmentalism Just a fashionable fallacy
In case you don't want to read it, he basically blames the Pine Beetle epidemic on environmentalists refusing to let the government and industry turn a provincial park into a clear cut/slash and burn. I don't post my comments on the newspaper's website because it just invites insults from those who have a different point of view - but I can't keep quite about this. Anyways if you know very little of the Pine Beetle epidemic in Northern BC you can look up the history online, or check out the Manic Gardener's Blog (I didn't know Montana had a pine beetle problem), but basically every Pine tree in BC is dead or going to be dead within 5 years. It is really hard to imagine unless you have seen the pictures of landscapes that are red in every direction you look.
But Pine Beetle isn't new. It has been around for hundreds of years, and the population never got out of control. A cold winter would hit and kill them back to reasonable numbers. So in the 80's and early 90's when the Pine Beetle attacked Tweedsmuir Provincial Park everyone thought that the problem would manage itself like it always had. I don't think anyone envisioned the ending up where we are now. But, blaming the problem on environmentalists seems foolish. Of course people protested the idea of logging a park - it was a protected area. No one predicted this devastation, and it seems unfair now to start playing the blame game.
But getting back to what is so shocking about what I keep reading in the newspaper. So many people agree with these sentiments, and really think that "green" is just a buzzword, a fashion, or a bandwagon that the unwashed masses have jumped on because it makes them feel good about the choices they are making.
So, my question is, who really is the one being deceived? Those who refuse to acknowlege the green debate and environmental issues, or those of us who have and are now making changes and paying more money to live green because somehow we've been convinced of its importance. Or maybe to some extent, are we all being deceived?
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