Weather, Water, Energy January 19, 2007

Avedon Carol has a phenomenal catch over at The Sideshow, quoting Kissinger's explicit confirmation that we are in the Middle East for the oil, just like James Baker did our first time into Iraq, despite the denials and outrage of the Busheviks and their Pravda mouthpieces. I've never understood why they couldn't just admit it. It's not the only reason, although that was a good way to frame the counterattack on those who dared to raise it. "How dare you say the only reason we went to Iraq was for oil??!!" But, historically, great nation wannabes have rarely apologized for seeking to maintain/obtain the resources necessary for their "greatness" whereever and whenever they needed to. We don't have to agree with that, but it was defensible. But it was also likely a loser, or at least something Bushnev would have to compromise on, and we know how zealot ideologues love that, don't we? Still, it's nice to have someone admit it upfront, even if only in Middle Eastern media. We can depend on our media here to give it all the attention it deserves, can't we . . . huh, can't we? . . . Good news: A new heat pump that uses 50% less energy than the usual ones. . . . Bad news: A commodity expert says that the push to $100 barrel oil has only "corrected" and will be back soon enough. Fill up those tanks. . . . The Friends of the Earth head says this will be a "crunch year" for our issues here. Windows opening for action, flows coming together. The problem with the "windows" model is that it doesn't do enough to explicate the a--holes running around trying to close them back down as fast as they start rising. Hopefully he's right this time (h/t Grist). . . . Looks like Canada is taking the future with clean energy tech seriously, putting its money where it's mouth is. . . . Looks like US corporations are ready to join enviro groups in trying to get Bushnev's attention to take the clean energy tech seriously. Two years off, at best. Then maybe President Gore will take off like Canada. . . . Meanwhile, the most insane city in Bushnev's insane home state is planning an 18-lane highway, giving the world a giant finger while tearing out full speed at a brick wall. Houston really is a disaster so they have it coming, but it does give you all the perspective you need to understand what the chances of a "president" from that area doing something important really are. . . . Finally, a sadly "objective" report from Scientific American on the American Meterological Society meeting in San Antonio, giving far too much sympathy to those poor, poor "global warming's not really going on much" "experts" who lament the lack of respect and civility among their tuned-in colleagues. It's a nice example of our frequent failure to discuss the ego boosts and needs revealed by the “aginner” stance. I'll admit I’m often hesitant to adopt the “common” view simply because humans run in herds and it makes sense to be skeptical of fads and trends. It can be amusing and ego stroking, especially if the promoters are being jerks about it. But there does come a point where the evidence is so overwhelming that the “aginner” stance is objectively indefensible and becomes a self-deluded and -impressed way of asserting one’s superiority and “heroism” in the face of the overpowering peer pressure that takes the weaker minds. Those people should be treated just like “the wild-eyed fringe or lackeys” because they are just as harmful and dangerous in the ultimate consequences of their actions. You see it in the determined “moderation” of people like Drum and his acolytes who refuse to just once and for all stop giving the benefit of the doubt to people who consistently not only don’t deserve it but use the “moderation,” the “bipartisan,” the “let’s hear the other side” as proof that people with evidence clearly on their side are wrong. It’s all fun and intellectual game until somebody loses an eye, until an Iraq or Iran happens, or reactionary judges are installed for life, or an entire city is all but abandoned, or real science is driven from classrooms, or the Constitution is overridden, or until the whole planet is needlessly suffering from the delays and inaction caused by people thinking there’s a “middle ground” on climate change simply because credentialed “aginners” continue to tut-tut and perform their chosen roles as superior beings. When the car is speeding at the cliff, it’s time to stop arguing that some roads curve.