Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Not So Extinct

This article about the discovery in Thailand over the last decade of more than 1000 new species of life--including some that scientists had believed to be extinct for over 11 million years--is more up Steve Hayward’s ally for commentary than mine. But even without his expert testimony, it is interesting (and humbling) to note how much we really don’t know about this planet . . . even when we think we do.

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Two preeminent Conservative attitudes are gratitude and humility.

Yeah. Those are the two thoughts at the forefront of the minds of people screaming "Drill, baby, drill!"

Is it humble to decline to use energy sources placed at one's diposal?

Is it gratitude to let energy sources waste in the earth, while vast sums are transferred to those that have repeatedly proven themselves enemies of the West?

Is it humility to delude oneself that gimmick sources of energy, such as wind and solar, are sufficient to satisfy the growing energy demands of the foremost economy on the face of the earth?

Where is the humility in foisting ethanol upon a nation, which does nothing but make food prices soar, as well as food shortages, resulting in riots and death. And all the while, an energy source that people can't eat, can't digest, can't sustain themselves on, namely coal, remains where it does nobody any good, id est, under the earth.

The only way we gain knowledge of the planet is through exploration and invasiveness, and of course that partially destroys that which we might otherwise wish to preserve. An example would be roads in the Amazonia rain forest. It allows clear-cutting and other forms of ecological degradation, but it also allows us to understand what we are destroying. It was ever the case.

As for energy, drilling is an important short-term strategy, but it needs to be part and parcel of a more comprehensive policy to ween us off fossil fuels. Why? Pumping all the CO2 into the atmosphere can't be GOOD (although global warming is certainly exaggerated), and the social and political fallout in terms of dependency on the Caliphate, greedy speculators, and other assorted dictators (e.g., Putin, Chavez) has become intolerable. Just ask Pat Buchanan about the importance of a national industrial policy.

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