Friday, June 30, 2006

Let's Have it Both Ways.

Conservatives, of the neo- variety will have a hard time with this one. Now that Global Warming is no long in need of more data, a silver-lining for the do-nothing crowd had been, "Oh well, the increased carbon dioxide will be good for agriculture. It will increase the food supply".

Today Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune reports on an article in the journal Science from the University of Illinois. From the Hawthorne article:

But a new study with field tests in Illinois and other spots around the globe is challenging that assumption, suggesting that any increase in crop yields due to the buildup of greenhouse gasses would be modest or nonexistent.

No longer can the radical right hoodwink the rest of us on this one.

After reading the article, I recalled having a thought how the right likes to have it both ways: natural resources are basically inexhaustible, or since resources are limited, I'm not likely to share them. Which is it? If the planet is so endowed we can keep sucking it's fruit at an ever-increasing rate in perpetuity, or realizing the fruits have to be parceled out, I"m making sure me and my heirs are getting the limited share.

The lie is preaching one and acting the other. Conservatives know the resources are limited, which is why they hoard them, and blanch when a Warren Buffet gives 90+% of his wealth away, setting a bad example for the rest of theim. So the "we need more data" chant has been a smoke screen for continued obfuscation, and holding the line on needed reform of how we consume the planet's limited resources.

This latest news from the U of Illinois should strip them of their last shred of their emporer's new clothes.