California - There They Go
A few months ago we learned that California's 4th and 8th graders' scientific illiteracy is exceeded only by those of Mississippi. So it seems only natural that as a state they would fall for the latest scientific fads. So Arnold and the Dems have decided to fight global warming. Well good for them. Do they really think that reducing power plant emissions by 25% is going to make a bit of difference in global temperatures? Two years ago enlightened Californians voted to throw away $3 billion funding futile stem cell research. And now they have decided to raise the minimum wage to the highest level in the nation. The state's 29% high school drop-out rate, that should make for an interesing low-skilled labor market.
With student achievement scores in the toilet, the Golden State is behaving more like a pompous banana republic with internationalist delusions than the great engine of progress we once knew.
With student achievement scores in the toilet, the Golden State is behaving more like a pompous banana republic with internationalist delusions than the great engine of progress we once knew.
posted by ziel | 8/30/2006 10:45:00 PM
5 Comments:
What gets me about the eco's, is that they never seem to want to make the connection between rising population (driven by immigration) and growing environmental problems. If Califoria is so polluted, it might occur to them that adding several hundred thousand more polluters to their population each year can't help the situation.
Speaking of which, has anyone noticed that the furor over illegal immigration seems to have died down just lately? I am sure that Congress, after 99% of them, as usual, are returned to their jobs after the elections in Novemeber, will interpret this lull in immigration rhetoric as a sign that the public has lost interest in the issue, or have accepted mass immigration as inevitable, and will sneak the senate's immigration bill into law. Just wait.
The nice thing about federalism is that it lets California screw up without ruining the rest of the country.
BTW, just about every scientist not indirectly on an oil company payroll agrees global warming is real. Lefties might not like to admit the existence of human biodiversity, but the Right has its own scientific blind spots. (Like not admitting the reason for human biodiversity. ;) )
Nameless raises a good point in that you want to keep the population of wealthy countries as low as possible from the point of view of pollution, rich countries pollute a lot more than poor countries do.
Personally I think the American uppe r class is engaged in unholy collusion between its liberal (who want to see the Republicans lose) and conservative (who want cheap labor) wings to have immigration. The only way to win this one is for people on the bottom to keep fighting, like in Arizona.
There are scientists who believe global warming is real but that it is being overblown for political reasons or who doubt the predictive power of climate models (Lindzen, Pielke Sr., for example). What California is doing is surely foolish - it will accomplish nothing, and it's silly for a state to do something symbolic. Nearby states will surely benefit from California's folly.
Those scientists are in the minority. Come on, I admit liberals are wrong on immigration, gender issues, and race (at least as far as their model of the world goes)...
You never know. My suspicion is that big, rich states like Cali can get away with a lot. Heck, according to conservatives New York City should have gone under ages ago--but a couple of Republican mayors and it's attracting legions of rich people. People like to live in cities, particularly young people. The Sailerite theory of 'Affordable Family Formation' doesn't predict the end of cities, simply that you can't raise kids there. But there's no reason you can't have a pattern where people raise kids in the suburbs and the kids move to the city to meet a mate then move out to the suburbs to raise their kids. Heck, frogs do something similar.
NYC worries about itself - the rich folk, I should say, make sure the city remains their little playground, and thus it remains one of the great places on earth. But they don't try to save the world.
Anti-pollution measures are generally good for the rich, but this isn't just any anti-pollution measure. This is trying to 'save the world' - not California. Seems like a dumb idea to me.
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