Day: November 21, 2000

Polluters of the World: Repent

Ugh. First the Pope was blabbering on about the Earth as if it were a living entity, and now the World Council of Churches have issued a statement saying global warming is not just an environmental problem, but it’s also “a sin against God.”

The WCC thinks the developed world has a “moral responsibility” to the developing world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Of course the main reason the developed world emits so much CO2 is precisely because it has, for the most part, recognized the rights of individuals and reaped the rewards therein. The thing that never gets mentioned in all of these “the West produces all of the pollution” stories is that low CO2 emissions are highly correlated with extreme poverty.

The intellectually challenged folks at the WCC haven’t even thought through the broad implications of their own statement. If the burning of fossil fuels is sinful, then doesn’t it logically follow that low gasoline prices are a very bad thing? Maybe. According to a WCC spokeswoman, “I think that would be a matter of discussion.”

Snow Day!

About 12 inches of snow fell overnight here in Kalamazoo, so the university I work at shut down — no school.

When I was a kid that would have been time for rejoicing, but as an adult I really dislike such disruptions. As my wife puts it, for an atheist I’ve got that Protestant work ethic down pat.

The only upside to staying home is hanging out with my daughter for the day inventing new songs and dances — not to mention drawing her further into the cult of Lego.

Harper Warned by Judge

On November 20th I mentioned that animal activist Josh Harper, who was indicted for failing to appear before a grand jury, had sent out a couple e-mail messages to animal rights activists that contained some pretty strong language. According to an Americans for Medical Progress e-mail newsletter, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis J. Hubel was not pleased with Harper’s e-mail missive and warned Harper that, “I think it comes dangerously close to asking people to
commit violent acts.”

AMP went on to report that,

Although Harper’s attorney argued the activist was within his constitutional free-speech rights, Hubel said that if Harper incited, encouraged or publicized his approval for crimes, it would violate the
conditions of his pretrial release and land him in jail.

Washington Anti-Fur Initiative May be Challenged; Oklahoma Anti-Cockfighing Petition Rejected

A few weeks ago animal rights activists in Washington state successfully passed an initiative that not only bans the use of steel-jawed leg-hold traps, but also bans outright the sale of fur and certain poisons in the state. The Inland Northwest Wildlife Council is considering challenging the ban on fur and poison as unconstitutional. An initiative that Washington voters passed in 1999 was ruled unconstitutional because it tackled too many issues. The initiative approved this year went so far as to ban a poison, sodium fluoroacetate, which isn’t even registered in the state — anyone using it would be breaking the law already.

In Oklahoma, meanwhile, a petition drive calling for an initiative to ban cockfighting failed when the Oklahoma Gamefowl Breeders Association demonstrated that more than 40 percent of the petition signatures were invalid. By comparing the signatures on the petition to a statewide database of registered voters, a large percentage of the petition signatures were demonstrated to have been forged, registered more than once, or came from people not registered to vote in Oklahoma.

Sources:

I-713 violates constitution, council says. Fenton Roskelley, The Spokesman-Review, November 15, 2000.

Invalid signatures prove need for reform, cockfighters claim. Brian Barber, TulsaWorld.Com, November 15, 2000.