-
- As we rapidly approach the end of the 1990's, the time
has come when all enlightened, apolitical, intellectually truthful and
educated folk must band together to thwart one of the greatest affronts
to common sense (and freedom) in modern history.
-
- For the past 30 years, the notion that the industrial
world is creating catastrophic , global changes in the environment has
gained momentum within the left-wing, new age community in spite of massive
scientific data to the contrary. Never before has this been more apparent
than with the recent hysterical confusion over the ozone hole. What may
interest those of you who see all weather anomalies as the revenge of the
Earth Mother goddess Gaia against the evils of capitalism is the fact that
science has known for quite some time that ozone holes form and regenerate
themselves on a regular basis. And recent satellite photographs have proven
that the much-ballyhooed hole of the 90's has been steadily shrinking,
and is due to be gone completely by the middle of the next century.
-
- On October 1, 1999, CNN reported that "the latest
NASA images of the ozone layer shows that a hole in the atmospheric layer
that protects Earth from the sun's harmful radiation is shrinking(T)his
year's ozone hole is smaller than last year's, (but) scientists say it
will be a while before the hole disappears completely -- 2060 at the earliest."
Really? According to the majority of guests on late-night radio, the hole
is supposed to grow and grow until the icecaps melt, the oceans swell and
cities flood under torrents of water that will make the tsunami in Deep
Impact look like the ideal surfing wave.
-
- This is one of many environmentalist myths that are destined
to die hard in the new millennium, thus creating a fierce, potentially
dangerous mistrust of more prosaic activists in the future. Many of you
will remember the laughable hysteria over the Cassini space probe from
2 yeas ago. In 1997, Alston Chase of the Washington Time wrote, "The
Cassini space probe did not 'kill everyone on this planet,' as some environmental
groups and at least one newspaper had predicted. Rather, it left safely
for Saturn on Oct. 15, with its fuel load of 72 pounds of plutonium intact.
-
- "In dramatizing dangers of the Cassini liftoff,
many media were calling plutonium 'the most toxic substance known.' Thus,
they ignored what many researchers believe - that moderate radiation exposure
may actually enhance human health. Japanese who lived near Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 194S have been living longer than their peers. Ditto, workers
exposed to plutonium at Los Alamos during World War II."
-
- Another recent report either ignored or rejected out
of hand by environmental activists came from Beijing in June of this year.
A professor of geological sciences named Yang Xuexiang wrote in the May
Chinese edition of the Scientific American magazine that solar wind is
the root cause of the ozone hole, rather than the use of freon.
-
- Yang makes the argument that solar wind has made the
atmosphere at the South Pole thinner, and that the eruption of volcanoes
in the southern hemisphere has released large amounts harmful gas, contributing
to the hole.
-
- Another factor is that the solar high-energy particle
currents consume ozone both at the South Pole and the North Pole when they
enter the earth's atmosphere.
-
- Yang makes the point that the northern hemisphere is
where the use of freon is most prevalent and so if the freon theory is
correct, the ozone hole should have appeared above the North Pole instead
of the South Pole.
-
- Unfortunately, the dissenting views of scientists like
Yang receive little or no play in the often left-leaning American news
media, and even less so in the world of alternative talk radio. The arrival
of the new millennium is allowing many shameful hucksters to profit by
pandering to the deepest fears and ignorance of their listening audiences.
We have witnessed the emergence of a new, hybrid paradigm, which combines
the utopian vision of American liberals with the flakiest of new age dogma.
Let's call this paradigm "Gaia's Revenge." It's the notion that
Mother Earth has had her fill of American capitalism, and is preparing
to belch the slovenly and greedy from her belly. It's the ultimate validation
of the liberal's belief that God hates conservatives, and will stop at
nothing to exact vengeance upon them, even if it means destroying the earth.
-
- Many prominent new age authors will often make a statement
like, "Everything is connected," a simple spiritual truth, yes,
but one that does little to support their assertion that a diaper sitting
in a landfill in Ohio can cause an earthquake in New Delhi. They employ
a scattershot tactic of randomly pulling all negative environmental stories
from the news and painting a picture of doom and gloom, but never providing
coherent data to justify their claim that the world is ending. But their
spiel is selling quite well as we stand on the precipice of the new millennium;
the attention span of the American public has never been shorter, and many
lonely souls are all too eager to seek escapism in the form of Doomsday
reverie.
-
- No doubt, some of you reading this will recoil in righteous
rage and accuse me of being blinded to the facts by a right-wing political
bias. I would say that my political beliefs are exactly as relevant as
those of Art Bell, Whitley Strieber, Ed Dames, Linda Moulton Howe, and
numerous other prophets of doom who have managed to turn pseudo-science
into a virtual art form, and a very profitable one at that. Why don't you
ask THEM who they voted for in the last election, or, even more pointedly,
grill them on the financial benefits they reap from a scared and stupefied
public held rapt by their foolishness.
-
- I would never argue against the fact that the past 100
years has witnessed concern for the environment all too often taking a
back-seat to greed. The quality of the air and drinking water is utterly
disgraceful in numerous areas the world over. Environmental consciousness
is one of the greatest responsibilities a human being can ever have. But
the facts must always be judged in the most prosaic light possible, without
fear or judgment or predisposed bias, and this is a standard that is not
being met by our current crop of environmental activists.
-
- (All comments are welcome) (Send to michael@kronia.com)
-
-
- Comment
-
- Climate Change Disinformation
- By Kevin Daly <kdalynz@iol.ie
- 12-26-99
-
-
- In reply to Michael Goodspeed's frankly propagandist
little piece, while it is true that there are a lot of popular misconceptions
about climate change (such as the idea that there is a connection between
ozone depletion and global warming), and the Cassini panic *was* sheer
idiocy propagated by those for whom the word "nuclear" is synonymous
with "evil", it is also true that the reality of catastrophic
climate change has been demonstrated by very large numbers of professional,
honest and dedicated scientists who've been studying the available data
now for decades.
-
- Yang's "solar wind" theory is nothing more
than a shameful piece of disinformation put out to whitewash the blindly
exploitationist policies of the Chinese, who are now by far the major producers
of freon-related products (from whihc they are making a tidy profit by
filling the void left by others) and are also the reason the situation
has continued to deteriorate. As an aside, the idea that the major ozone
hole should form in the northern hemisphere simply because that's where
the freon is *produced* would be laughable for its naive disregard of the
complexities of global weather patterns and climate systems, if it were
not a sickening example of intellectual dishonesty.
-
- The ecosystem *is* being destroyed, not just with atmospheric
contaminants and marine pollutants but also by the destruction of vital
areas such as the Brazilian rainforest (and the accelerating destruction
of lesser forests everywhere). You cannot destroy your life-support system
and *not* court disaster. Anyone but a cretin can grasp this simple fact,
so I can only assume that those who campaign tirelessly to make people
and goverments ignore these facts do so not out of ignorance or stupidity,
but out of a willingness to sacrifice everything and everyone for their
short-term profit and comfort.
-
- Under these circumstances it is not going too far to
say that those who promote, perpetrate or are apologists for such destruction
are guilty of crimes against humanity, since knowingly causing the death
of all complex life on earth (and certainly the human species at least)
must surely constitute genocide on a grand scale. All so the Chinese can
get rich selling fridges and a few fat cats can enjoy expensive holidays
in tacky resorts.
-
- If there is intelligent life on Earth, it must be hiding.
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- From Tom Brockman <tbrock@frontiernet.net 12-26-99
-
- Hello Mike,
-
- In the 70's I worked for a chemical recycling company
(Waste Research, Inc, Eau Claire, WI). We were paid a large sum of money
by Dow Chemical (the patent holder of freon FC113 and others (plus the
holder I believe of the freon trademark) to complete a detailed survey
of our freon recycling activity. Since we wanted the money and had no notion
of any hidden agenda we took the money and ran. Dow was trying to determine
how much freon FC113 and other variants were out there in the market place
and out of their control, since recycled freon products were exempt from
patent limits being considered not virgin at that point.
-
- Funny how some people in the business were telling me
the source behind the funding for much of the freon - ozone hole theory
research was Dow Chemical. Even funnier was the fact that Dow's patents
were coming due to expire. Much funnier still is the fact that Dow had
the major replacements for freon on line and waiting for freon to be outlawed.
Yes, very funny indeed!
-
- Also funny was NASA providing color enhanced photo output
that just happened to show the areas of LOW ozone as black. Note I said
LOW ozone levels, not zero (0) ozone. To the uninitiated public the black
looked like a hole, not a reduced level on an innocent color coded photograph;
hence the hole was born where no true hole existed. Just like every good
story about crime, greed, and conspiracy, "just follow the money"
will always lead you to the correct people responsible.
-
- Dow had everything to lose when their freon monopoly
was at an end so they helped develop an ozone hole scare to allow them
to waltz in their prearranged alternative. Don't ask about what company
still makes freon south of the border and how much is still available in
the US; at a price of course! Maybe some day you will want to hear about
the work we did for GD Searle on aspartame and how we knew 15 years ago
that the stuff turned into methanol when we over heated it. We had barrels
of the stuff to play with and we had a lot of fun with it. I try not to
let too much of it in my children if we can help it.
-
- Keep up the "voice in the wilderness", but
don't get too paranoid, or too trusting.
-
- Good Luck!
-
- Tom Brockman
-
-
- Reply
-
- From Michael Goodspeed <michael@kronia.com 12-26-99
-
-
- In response to Mr. Daly's depiction that my article was
a "propagandist" piece, I feel there are some key points I should
clarify:
-
- 1) Anyone who refers to me as a defender of the encroachers
upon the natural world, big business, the pharmaceutical companies et.
al has completely missed my point. My ONLY goal in the article was to point
out the lack of discretion and open-mindedness that is all too-often displayed
by many environmentalists. I feel the general tone of Daly's e-mail, as
well as his depiction of my article as a "propagandist piece,"
goes a long way towards validating that assertion. I would happily wear
the moniker of "environmentalist" if it had not been co-opted
by gentleman like himself.
-
- 2) In all fairness, I can not verify, nor do I agree
with Alton Chase's claim that plutonium in ANY amount is safe for human
beings. I quoted from his Washington Times story to show that dissenting
opinions about the environment DO exist, and are often not fairly considered.
-
- 3) I would never deny that the raping and pillaging of
the environment has become a fine art form perfected by the world's big
business, chemical and pharmaceutical companies. The destruction of the
rain forest, the extinction of 70% of all animal species in Hawaii this
century, and overpopulation are all geuinely frightening concerns that
the American people must be educated to. It was not my intention to downplay
these threats to our health and longevity on the planet. But, inorder for
meaningful and productive debate to take place on this subject, every anomalous
weather pattern, every report of environmental misuse and abuse must be
put into its proper context, without political biases or agendas. Ask yourselves,
are we seeing that degree of decorum and open-minded consideration displayed
by today's environmentalists?
-
- 4) The solar wind explanation for the ozone hole is shared
by far more scientists than Mr. Xang, including Wallace Thornhill, scheduled
on Jeff Rense's show January 10.
-
- Thank you, everyone, for the input you have offered,
which has been 85-90% positive.
-
-
-
- Comment
-
- Climate Change Disinformation
- By Kevin Daly <kdalynz@iol.ie 12-26-99
-
-
- In reply to Michael Goodspeed's frankly propagandist
little piece, while it is true that there are a lot of popular misconceptions
about climate change (such as the idea that there is a connection between
ozone depletion and global warming), and the Cassini panic *was* sheer
idiocy propagated by those for whom the word "nuclear" is synonymous
with "evil", it is also true that the reality of catastrophic
climate change has been demonstrated by very large numbers of professional,
honest and dedicated scientists who've been studying the available data
now for decades.
-
- Yang's "solar wind" theory is nothing more
than a shameful piece of disinformation put out to whitewash the blindly
exploitationist policies of the Chinese, who are now by far the major producers
of freon-related products (from whihc they are making a tidy profit by
filling the void left by others) and are also the reason the situation
has continued to deteriorate. As an aside, the idea that the major ozone
hole should form in the northern hemisphere simply because that's where
the freon is *produced* would be laughable for its naive disregard of the
complexities of global weather patterns and climate systems, if it were
not a sickening example of intellectual dishonesty.
-
- The ecosystem *is* being destroyed, not just with atmospheric
contaminants and marine pollutants but also by the destruction of vital
areas such as the Brazilian rainforest (and the accelerating destruction
of lesser forests everywhere). You cannot destroy your life-support system
and *not* court disaster. Anyone but a cretin can grasp this simple fact,
so I can only assume that those who campaign tirelessly to make people
and goverments ignore these facts do so not out of ignorance or stupidity,
but out of a willingness to sacrifice everything and everyone for their
short-term profit and comfort.
-
- Under these circumstances it is not going too far to
say that those who promote, perpetrate or are apologists for such destruction
are guilty of crimes against humanity, since knowingly causing the death
of all complex life on earth (and certainly the human species at least)
must surely constitute genocide on a grand scale. All so the Chinese can
get rich selling fridges and a few fat cats can enjoy expensive holidays
in tacky resorts.
-
- If there is intelligent life on Earth, it must be hiding.
|
