For several years now, environmental activists have been fighting to keep a gold mine from reopening in Romania: a mine that would bring much needed development to a poverty stricken area. A few documentaries have been made about the controversy, including Mine Your Own Business: The Dark Side of Environmentalism. Today, while CEI was holding an event in Bucharest on the issue, the country’s Environment Minister held a news conference to announce that the government is not allowing Gabriel Resources to move forward with its gold mine project because the company supposedly “lacks necessary documentation.”
Gheorghe Lucian, an unemployed miner featured in Mine Your Own Business, had this to say about the decision: “The government must allow the mine to reopen or the future will be very bad for us. “People in Rosia Montana have hope that the mine will reopen. We have no development, and if the mine doesn’t open, we must leave because Rosia Montana will die.”
Fortunately, this decision is not the end of line for the mine, just a setback — an unwanted and unnecessary setback in a string of them for the people of Rosia Montana.
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It’s a rite of passage for any kid, to set up a lemonade stand on your street corner and hawk cups of the cold, sweet drink during the long, hot summer months. It’s also a symbol of our free market system, something Trader Joe’s recognizes in a new commercial it’s airing. The grocery store, which has been called the “Grateful Dead of supermarkets,” touts our free market system in the commercial for allowing kids to run lemonade stands and explains how Trader Joe’s can help them accomplish their summer dream (by offering the lemonade kids can sell of course). Unfortunately, I can’t link to the commercial here because the company, known for its secrecy, has a “no blog” policy. Whatever that means. But hey, it’s nice to hear the benefits of a free market talked about once in awhile.
We knew the trial lawyers were ready to pounce, and are they ever. In today’s Dallas Morning News, there’s an article about a major Dallas law firm creating a “climate change practice” to cash in on the global warming hysteria. It joins another Dallas firm and a dozen others around the country that are “getting ready for a predicted explosion of climate-related work tied to government regulation, lawsuits against energy companies and new markets that will trade the rights to emit carbon.” Isn’t it great how government regulation can create so much wealth for trial lawyers and potentially wreck our economy while hitting the poor of the world the hardest, all in the name of something that we don’t even know for sure will be a problem? Unfortunately, it’s become the American way.
The British government’s “green” vision may force homeowners to pay penalties if they don’t make their homes energy efficient. A story in today’s Daily Mail reports on this “warning to homeowners.”
An amusing story out of Australia: Execs at a television network are scratching their heads over why their fellow Australians didn’t watch a show about how they can save the planet. Research showed viewers would be interested in watching a two-and-a-half hour long special on ways to save the planet, but ratings for the program were dismal. What were viewers actually watching that night? Grey’s Anatomy and CSI.
A poll commissioned by Wal-Mart (third item down) found that the negative publicity surrounding the world’s largest retail chain has had hardly any effect on shoppers. Maybe groups like Wal-Mart Watch need to stop and think whether they’re actually driving customers to the store. Maybe not. And I’m sure Wal-Mart would rather not have all the bad publicity. But it’s interesting how the efforts against the chain have not done more damage. Could it be that people really do prefer to pay lower prices for the things they want to buy?
The split among Christians over global warming is growing wider. While it appeared liberal environmentalists had pretty much convinced evangelicals that catastrophic global warming is looming, some Christian leaders are now saying ‘not so fast.’ Focus on the Family leader James Dobson and other Christian leaders are calling for the resignation of Richard Cizik, a vice president with the National Association of Evangelicals, for his global warming activism. In a letter to the NAE board, Dobson and the others write:
“The issue that is dividing and demoralizing the NAE and its leaders is related to global warming, resulting from a relentless campaign orchestrated by a single individual in the Washington office, Richard Cizik, vice president of government relations. While many of us consider Richard to be a friend, he regularly speaks without authorization for the entire organization and puts forward his own political opinions as scientific fact.”
Just recently, Jerry Falwell also gave a sermon on “The Myth of Global Warming” at his Lynchburg, VA church.
A few of us from CEI attended an event today featuring John O’Sullivan, author of The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister. O’Sullivan is well-qualified to comment on the triumvirate (President Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) that brought down the Soviet Union–he covered the Reagan administration and was a special adviser to Thatcher. I haven’t read the book yet, but if it’s even half as interesting as John’s talk today, it will be well worth the read. The reviews on Amazon are stellar.
CEI President Fred Smith is testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this morning on the Climate Action Partnership and the effects the companies’ cap and trade plan will have on the American economy. Stay tuned for updates from CEI Senior Fellow Iain Murray throughout the hearing.
Pollster Michael McKenna just released his latest survey on what Americans think about enviro issues, particularly global warming. Some interesting findings:
1. Environmental issues as a whole, not just global warming, still rank almost dead last among issues voters are most concerned about. Only 3% of the 1,000 respondents said the environment was the most pressing issue facing the U.S. right now. (The top issues, btw, are Iraq and security. No surprise there.)
2. On just environmental issues, climate change is the top priority for the voters surveyed.
3. Despite that, a majority of the respondents do not want the government to intervene with mandated carbon reductions. Fifty-two percent believe advances in technology will solve any problems from global warming.
4. Unfortunately, the survey found “there may be some misunderstanding or overestimation of the contributions of humans in the United States to global warming. About a third of the respondents think that Americans are responsible for at least half of the global warming.” McKenna said, given that answer, it’s not surprising that the global warming issue has now become an important environmental priority.
The alarmists have apparently succeeded in making Americans think global warming is our fault. But it’s interesting how the “experts” think we need to go on an energy starvation diet, while the average, uninformed American realizes that man’s ingenuity will take care of any problems without destroying our quality of life. Thank goodness for the “common man”!
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