Clarion Content

Long Beach, CA

The Clarion Content is not a global warming denier. However, there is so much misinformation out there floating around the global warming debate that it frustrates those who recognize the warming of the planet as scientific fact.

Warming is a long term trend. And however detrimental it is to humankind, it is ludicrous hyperbole to suggest that it will wipe us out as a species, let alone destroy the planet. It will make it hard (or even impossible) for humans to continue living in some of our current habitats, but that is a far cry from the cataclysmic disaster that warmings most fervent proselytizers preach about. Make no mistake, our language here is not accidental, the supporters of global warming from actual scientists to the inventor of internet, Al Gore, have taken their fight against global warming to the level of a religious crusade. In the Clarion Content's view this is outrageous and a tactical mistake. Major scientific studies about warming have been discredited and/or undermined by this posturing. To the Clarion Content, it would be much more honest to debate warming's harms and other outcomes on an economic basis. In our view, that is what the debate it about, how much money is responding to the effects of warming ex post facto going to cost, versus how much is attempting to ameliorate and avert warming's harms and other outcomes in advance going to cost.

Either approach is likely to be expensive. They require major changes in societal behavior and habit. It is our belief that like health there are logical, cost effective, preventive steps that can be taken and that there are prohibitively expensive and unnecessary actions that make no sense when the patient is the planet. The Clarion Content puts an American "cap and trade" bill as we have heard it proposed in the second category. One of the better preventive steps we think Americans must consider is taking a long hard look at is the locations where we build and have built. There are frequent reminders of the urgent need to reexamine where we humans live.

The effects of global warming are already being felt. The most commonly perceived is what we might call "weather turbulence" or the increased intensity of storms worldwide. There are a plethora of examples: the worst United States tornado season in 100 years, heavy winter weather in England--after a season of historic flooding, extremely cold temperatures in the American South, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, snow in Jerusalem and on and on. This weather turbulence underlines the urgency to vet more carefully where we, as humans, live. We cannot simply keep rebuilding in the most vulnerable areas and subsidizing it as a part of the public good. Our libertarian sensibilities say both, build where you will, and don't expect the collective to reimburse the foolhardy for the cost of building somewhere especially vulnerable. We might show up as friends and communitarians to help you rebuild your house or business. Elsewhere, perhaps?

The most recent eye popping example of extreme weather wreaking havoc on a highly populated area came from what is normally balmy Southern California. Two weeks ago the National Weather Service recorded at least one tornado and four waterspouts in Orange Country, California. Boats docked in a marina were tossed more than fifty feet in the air. In a matter of minutes chest-high water gushed through the streets of Belmont Heights, CA . The storms ripped the roofs off of buildings and shattered windows. The Los Angeles Times reported scenes of chaos. Our hearts go out to those who have suffered and are suffering.

Be warned warming will inflict far more severe harm on other less affluent communities with fewer resources to cope with severe weather.

Labels: ecology, Economy, Politics, science, weather