Question Earthority!

Guest editorial by Brian Holtz
Originally published at Libertarian Intelligence

I wouldn’t rely on only fashion and torts to police chemical assault, any more than I would rely only on them to police spousal assault. I don’t think the [Libertarian Party] has enough consensus to specify all the details of how the legal system should police chemical assault, but I will never agree with Platform language saying that torts and fashion are the only acceptable libertarian response to it. Even a Rothschilds-control-the-Fed government-planned-9/11 conspiracy enthusiast like Aaron Russo protested against having to run for President under the LP’s torts-only environmental plank.

If the Platform should say that private lawsuits should be the only response to chemical assault, why shouldn’t the Platform say that about all kinds of assault? Why not hold high the Rothbardian banner of private defense agencies? Why hide the lamp of liberty under a basket?

I just don’t agree that the LP Platform should enforce the narrow dogma that there is no such thing as what economists call market failure. Read the rest of this entry »

“Dear Pablo, I would like to use LED lighting to replace all my existing lighting. Over the long run, will I be reducing energy consumption and pollution, and even saving money?” (05/05/08)

“Investigations continue into the cause of a mysterious illness that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of bats since March 2008. At more than 25 caves and mines in the northeastern U.S, bats exhibiting a condition now referred to as ‘white-nosed syndrome’ have been dying. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently issued a Wildlife Health Bulletin, advising wildlife and conservation officials throughout the U.S. to be on the lookout for the condition known as ‘white-nose syndrome’ and to report suspected cases of the disease.” (05/09/08)

“Administration officials have dashed hopes among farm-state lawmakers from both parties that President Bush will sign a nearly $300 billion farm bill that they finished Thursday. The veto warning sets up an effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by many farm-state Republicans, to override a veto and defend government payments to farmers earning record incomes even as food prices soar. Administration officials said the bill, which would set U.S. food policy for the next five years, is loaded with budget gimmicks that disguise a $20 billion increase in spending. ‘At a time of record farm income, Congress decided to further increase farm subsidy rates, qualify more people for taxpayer support, and move programs toward more government control,’ Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said.” (05/09/08)

“Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental-consumption habits in 14 countries. Americans were least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories — housing, transportation and consumer goods, according to the assessment. In the fourth category, food, Americans ranked ahead of Japanese consumers, who eat more meat and seafood. The rankings, called ‘Greendex,’ are the first to compare the lifestyles and behaviors of consumers in multiple countries, according to the National Geographic Society. It plans to conduct the 100-plus-question survey annually and considers trends more important than yearly scores, said Terry Garcia, executive vice president of National Geographic’s mission programs.” (05/08/08)

“When he was laid up recovering from knee surgery, farmer Ralph Dull picked up a notebook dropped off by a friend that detailed how wind generators produce electricity. ‘I had plenty of time to read it,’ Mr. Dull recalls. ‘And I said, ‘That’s something we could do.” Dull has since become an Ohio pioneer in green farming and renewable energy, and his efforts have garnered the attention of Ohio legislators, who turn to him for creative ideas on agriculture’s role in environmental protection. ‘He is demonstrating through his farming practices that you can have a profitable farming operation while caring for the earth,’ says Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who wants the state to rely more on alternative energy and is pushing a stimulus package that would earmark $150 million for advanced energy sources such as solar power, wind, and clean coal.” (05/09/08)

“The United States has signed off on a European plan that would offer increased incentives for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, senior State Department officials said Thursday. Leaders from Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany are expected to join European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana — the EU’s normal contact with Iran — at a meeting with Iranian officials to present the offer.” (05/08/08)

“Many people can only believe in humanity as Robert Heinlein did for so long, and eventually must either cling with Joe Klein to ‘the perfectibility of human nature,’ or give up altogether. (The same process can be seen among progressives when it comes to patriotism. Faced with an unlovable country, they either turn to loving it for its potential/perfectibility, or they give up trying.) Those who give up on humanism are finding something more transcendent waiting to take over the role of prime valuer: the environment. And with the advent of the Carbon Footprint, environmentalism stands ready to not only structure every aspect of your life (as religion is said to do), but to give meaning and importance to things that never mattered before (like what you eat for breakfast). Every decision takes on a life-or-death importance. Even your choice of windows or lightbulbs becomes a way for you to ’save the environment.’” (05/08/08)

“Imagine this. You’ve built the better mousetrap. (Because lasers and pneumatic tubes are cool, let’s imagine it uses them.) You’ve persevered through years of trial and error in your garage, enduring sleepless nights, the mockery of friends, the eye-rolling of family, and the non-lethal laser wounds to the family cat. But it was all worth it. You take your invention and, with your last few pennies, manage to bring it to market. It’s a smash hit. It starts flying off shelves. You earn back the investment in raw materials and maybe something close to compensation for your time. Now you’re ready for the big payoff. There’s just one thing left to do: make an appointment with the regional Reasonable Profits Board to find out how much of your windfall is reasonable for you to keep. … Replace ‘Mousetrap’ with ‘oil,’ and you have a good idea of how some in Congress want to bring the oil industry to heel.” [editor’s note: Interesting analogy, but I’m not sure how demanding that the American taxpayer subsidize perpetual worldwide war to secure the oil for you so that you can sell it to them constitutes “building a better mousetrap” unless the “mousetrap” you’re trying to top is the Nigerian letter swindle - TLK] (05/09/08)

“Since 2005, when the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species, a broad coalition of industry and conservative groups have watched, with increasing dread, as the petition slowly worked its way through the Interior Department, helped along by lawsuits filed by environmental groups. Almost since the ink dried on the ESA more than thirty years ago, conservatives have bridled at its strictures, viewing the law as an affront to free-market principles and an impediment to businesses seeking to develop land or extract natural resources. But, even in this context, the polar bear’s possible ESA listing has elevated the debate to a fever pitch. … unlike typical ESA listings, protections for the polar bear could extend well beyond its natural habitat in the US, along the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of northern and western Alaska. Based on scientific studies showing that global warming is rapidly deteriorating the Arctic sea ice that polar bears call home, the CBD’s endangered species petition was among the first to tie greenhouse gas emissions to the fate of a species.” (05/08/08)

“The war against global warming is producing collateral damage to family life. One American city may even ban the hearth — San Francisco is contemplating a prohibition on private fireplaces to reduce air pollution. But this is nothing compared to the family sacrifice of the future: babies. A new trend among some of the world’s most eco-conscious is to forgo children for the sake of the planet.” (05/08/08)

“Perhaps the starkest measure of the car culture’s energy appetite is the fact that the state of Iowa, the nation’s leading corn producer, will soon be importing corn. If a meteorite were to land randomly in Iowa, there’s a 35 percent chance it would land in a cornfield; Iowa’s corn harvest last year contained more calories than the state’s human population would consume in 85 years of eating; yet Iowa will be hauling corn in from other states. The grain will be fed to a multitude of new fuel-ethanol factories, along with the state’s existing corn syrup and livestock industries. The world is learning fast that when fuel demand competes with food needs for the sun’s energy, it’s not a fair fight. The energy contained in the gasoline that fills a typical SUV’s tank contains approximately the same number of calories as are required in the annual diet of one adult.” (05/09/08)