Buffoons or High Priests?

Well it happened last Friday. Our EPA declared that CO2 is a "dangerous pollutant". While it came as no surprise, given the political and cultural tenor of the times, it still came as a shock when announced. Something like watching a train going off the tracks; at some point it becomes inevitable and you know that it will happen, but when the crash finally comes it still stuns you.

How did we come to this? The enormity of this decision confounds the senses. Not only was CO2 declared a dangerous pollutant, but so was methane (as well as nitrous oxide and various fluorocarbons). Taken to its logical conclusion, this gives the EPA the legal authority to regulate every aspect of our lives. It not only gives the legal authority; but, in fact, mandates that it be done. It is the law and is taken seriously. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is everywhere, in enormous quantities. It is essential to life and part of everything that we do. While the action is regarded as a means to chastise the energy industry, it will be a case study for future generations on the Law of Unintended Consequences.

But to ask the question again, how did we come to this? Is our whole culture on drugs? I suspect that most of our senior policy makers were at Woodstock, but this action gives evidence that they never left. There is an Alice in Wonderland quality to this whole thing that reeks of mind altering substances. Either that or we have turned over our future to the Three Stooges.

We voted for "Change". And we got change. But what is the change that we are getting? Who is making the decisions? What is the basis of the decisions that are being made? Make no mistake. Once made these decisions will be with us for the rest of our lives and our children's lives, for good or ill. The changes themselves are so bizarre that one is left with only two choices.

If people take actions that are counter to all common sense, facts and cultural norms, our first thought is that they are in fact buffoons. US energy and environmental policy is now being made by the Three Stooges. Imagine for a moment if you will, Carol Browner as Mae West and Ken Salazar as W.C. Fields. Perhaps our Governor, Bill Ritter, might be thought of as the Masked Bandit. Then watch their last movie together, "My Little Chickadee". At least it will provide a humorous counterpoint our current situation. As funny as it is, I do not think that those driving policy today to be buffoons. They are smart and dedicated people, with a record of accomplishment that gives the lie to that pleasant fantasy.

Instead, we are left with the other option. A much more dangerous and potent possibility. That is that they are people of faith. They are true believers. People of faith see the world differently than does the common man. Their faith gives them power. Whereas a simple policy maker might be persuaded to see reason if given a luxurious suite at the Super Bowl, a person of faith sees only utopia and takes delight in scourging the weak one who might be tempted by that suite. They are blind to the simple pleasures and failings of the rest of us. People of faith have been called to make this a better world, and if it takes suffering to make it a better world, so much the better. More importantly, they are indifferent to our suffering. It seems to be a truism that people of faith often love the masses, but have no sympathy for the individual.

We are now called to worship Mother Earth, sometimes known as Mother Nature. We tend to think of her as a kind and nurturing soul, in contrast to the harsh patriarchal God of Abraham. But a wise man (Tennyson) who came before us described her true nature "Nature, red in tooth and claw". But we will learn and our priests will see that we are made to suffer, in order that we are worthy of paradise.

An earlier generation, one more familiar with societies that tried to create paradise here on earth, had a saying about the environmental movement. They said that "the green tree had red roots". They were engaged in a great struggle lasting across generations with totalitarian movements. They recognized that the environmentalists shared a history and a world view with those who had created paradise in Russia, in China, in Cuba.