Thursday, April 7, 2011

JG on TF and plastic bags

9 comments:

PBM said...

JG is a conservative hack. Are some of his points correct? Yes. But he fails to recognize some of the problems attributed to these plastic bags like the fact that, when they are littered, they do not decompose, and pose a serious threat to ecosystems. Example, the great pacific garbage patch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrVCI4N67M

Also, some people probably do end up using reusable bags up to 100 times, or however many JG says are needed to make them have a smaller footprint than the thing bags.

Also, he takes into account one study that proves what he wants to say, but ignores the thousands of studies that prove humans are playing a major role in climate change?

The most infuriating part of the piece is that he attribute TF's preferred bag policy to Obama, and then says this:
"He's convinced that we can 'win the future' with such boondoggles as high-speed rail and impractical fads such as wind and solar energy."

Impractical boondoggles? High speed rail makes perfect sense (in certain locations) and is highly utilized in Europe and Asia. I know that America is exceptional, but does that mean we have to ignore good ideas that crop up in other countries? As for wind and solar, they are beginning to become cost competitive with fossil fuels, and are not going to be a fad. We need them to lessen our carbon footprint, and their industries are becoming more and more competitive, and will continue to add US jobs. He might be thinking they are only a fad because during the 1970s oil crisis, Jimmy Carter put funding into renewable energy. The God of all Conservativeness, Ronald Reagan, then stripped that funding, which is why many conservatives see this new funding as a repetition of history, and when the GOP takes the presidency, they will strip the funding again so that all of our energy can be gotten from fossil fuels and nuclear. But really, if Reagan hadn't stripped that funding, we'd probably be further along in our quest for energy independence and increased renewable energy. This time around will not be a fad, and Jonah Goldberg should get his head out from the sand.

TJE said...

Just sayin

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/high-speed-to-insolvency.html

The train from Tampa to the Magic Kingdom didn't strike me as winning the future.

TJE said...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12781

PBM said...

That's why I said (in certain locations). I don't just think we should put high speed rail everywhere, that would be stupid. But it makes sense from DC to Boston and NY, or Richmond to DC or SoCal to NoCal. Trains are way more convenient than flights, even short ones. There is minimal security and you go from the center of one city to the center of another.

And I don't listen to George Will on trains anymore because he was seen getting of the Amtrak from Trenton to DC last week:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/diminished-individualism-watch/
Can you say hypocrisy?

PBM said...

Cato's arguments don't come close to changing my mind. They would call anything pork.

TJE said...

http://www.plasticbagrecycling.org/00.0/

PBM said...

Yes, there are a lot of options for recycling your plastic, but many people are lazy and still litter. Also, plastic can only be recycled one time, so still wasteful.

TJE said...

Just singin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKjTpwXeuP4

PL said...

George Will of all people rode Amtrak? I am floored-!