Contrary to what the United Nations does, Mother Earth doesn't have a conscience. She can't tell us which of her resources she wants us to save, which to take care of, and which to use. Ergo, how we use or treat the planet is solely up to us to decide. And, as with all choices, there are consequences if we don't choose wisely.
People all over the globe live in terrible environments (e.g., unclean drinking water, limited/no access to electricity, inadequate sanitation). When you live in such conditions, caring about the environment is the last thing on your mind. So a scientific consensus about global warming or climate change doesn't matter when you don't have the basic requirements of human life. Besides, science is not about consensus - it's about testing hypotheses.
Is global warming occurring or has it been misrepresented? Well, it depends on the timeframe you're looking at (and who you ask). For example, some claim that if you look 16,000 years ago during the Pleistocene period, it was much colder (-19° C) than the Holocene period (which started about 12,000 years ago). Ergo, those who claim the planet is warming are absolutely correct - in the last 16,000 years, the planet has been warming. Now, interestingly enough, there's been a very slight cooling of the planet in the last 12,000 years. In fact, for the last 2,000 years, it appears the planet has been cooling at a faster rate. For the recent 300-year period called the Little Ice Age, it cooled even quicker. In the last 100 years, the planet has been warming at a very fast rate.
The challenge with all of this data is that there isn't any statistical significance when we look at only a small timeframe like a few hundred years. In other words, even though we are now in a warmer period, there is nothing unusual about this being a warmer period over the course of thousands of years. It appears to be a completely natural cycle.
Alright, so in the grand scheme of things and from a historical perspective, the temperature changes of the planet are occurring naturally. Yes, some dishonest climate scientists committed fraud by destroying, falsely manipulating, and hiding key climate data. After that didn't turn out well, others tried to scare you by suggesting violence if you denied global warming. That didn't go so well either. Putting aside the over 700 international scientists who disagree with the claims that global warming is man-made, needless to say, environmentalists are trying to find a way to get you to care more about the planet. Recycling is bullshit? Environmentalists don't agree.
Should we protect the environment and, if so, how? Is it possible for humanity to live if we don't "exploit" the Earth? Does nature have intrinsic value?
Because Earth Day is intended to further the cause of environmentalism-and because environmentalism is an anti-human ideology-on April 22, those who care about human life should not celebrate Earth Day; they should celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day.
Exploiting the Earth-using the raw materials of nature for one's life-serving purposes-is a basic requirement of human life. Either man takes the Earth's raw materials-such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms-and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies. To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, automobiles, computers, electricity, and the like; he must seize nature and use it to his advantage. There is no escaping this fact. Even the allegedly "noble" savage must pick or perish. Indeed, even if a person produces nothing, insofar as he remains alive he indirectly exploits the Earth by parasitically surviving off the exploitative efforts of others.
According to environmentalism, however, man should not use nature for his needs; he should keep his hands off "the goods"; he should leave nature alone, come what may...
The basic principle of environmentalism is that nature (i.e., "the environment") has intrinsic value-value in and of itself, value apart from and irrespective of the requirements of human life-and that this value must be protected from its only adversary: man. Rivers must be left free to flow unimpeded by human dams, which divert natural flows, alter natural landscapes, and disrupt wildlife habitats. Glaciers must be left free to grow or shrink according to natural causes, but any human activity that might affect their size must be prohibited. Naturally generated carbon dioxide (such as that emitted by oceans and volcanoes) and naturally generated methane (such as that emitted by swamps and termites) may contribute to the greenhouse effect, but such gasses must not be produced by man. The globe may warm or cool naturally (e.g., via increases or decreases in sunspot activity), but man must not do anything to affect its temperature.
In short, according to environmentalism, if nature affects nature, the effect is good; if man affects nature, the effect is evil.
On April 22, Celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Apr 23, 2011 at http://www.braincrave.com/viewblog.php?id=536
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