We Bought a House in the City

Downtown Columbus, Ohio

The Prolix Patriot believes that the future of conservatism will depend on restoring and rebuilding our cities after decades of liberal decay and neglect, so he and the Missus purchased a house in the city to put his money where his mouth is, as it were. For the first time in the history of the world, more people live in cities than do not. If conservatism is to remain a vital force in our civilization, we must bring our values back to the cities and our core institutions.

There are many obstacles to this project of course. In a map of precinct-level election returns, cities are the deepest of deep blue islands even in states that as a whole lean solidly to the right. Municipal elections are settled in Democratic primaries and the November elections might as well be like the Soviet Union where the only answer is "Yes." This is an unlikely place to look for conservative values. Living in the city is a decidedly counter-cultural proposition for us, especially when trying to have a large family.

However, because of this, conservatives in cities know the value of community perhaps more acutely than their liberal neighbors. Whereas for liberals the many boards and committees of municipal government provide numerous opportunities for civic involvement, for conservatives the first unit of organization (after the family of course) is the parish, and unsurprisingly, the most vibrant and conservative parish in Columbus is in the heart of the city, not at its periphery.

Fortified by communities of faith and family, conservatives are better prepared to engage with people of differing opinions instead of succumbing to the liberal tendency towards oikophobia. As conservatives, we can highlight the things that we do have in common with liberals without completely surrendering to radicalism. That said, instead of seeking to find common cause where none exists, we must use every opportunity to encourage our liberal neighbors to rethink their attitudes about conservatism—and perhaps even join our cause.

As one example, conservatives can demonstrate that conservation of nature (as opposed to radical environmentalism) is best achieved by making cities a desirable place to live instead of punishing people for the economically rational decision to live in the outer suburbs. As another example, horrible schools deter families from living in the city. Groups like Southside STAY in Columbus recognize this problem. Conservatives should emphasize our commitment to school choice and teacher accountability as the means to restore urban schools and make it easier for large families to thrive.

Many years ago, the Prolix Patriot wrote a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal defending the importance of cities even in an age where technology makes it easier to communicate across vast distances and sprawling infrastructure provides relatively quick access from the countryside to the urban core and vice-versa. These advances are wonderful in some ways but they also have their drawbacks, and they can never replace the value of proximity that nurtures and sustains communities and our society as a whole.

Conservatives recognize that human nature does not change. Instead of the Bloombergian nanny-state which tries to force people to live according to the latest fad, we recognize that the way to change behavior is by setting a good example ourselves and by providing incentives for others to do the right thing. It will take much time and effort to repair the damage (both physical and spiritual) that liberalism has inflicted on our cities over the past 50 years, but if we do not commit ourselves to the task, we cannot complain about the decaying and degraded society that our children will inherit.

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The View at the Bottom of the Cliff

Cliffs do not loom

As the old carol goes, "fast away the old year passes." In our frantic and impatient modern world there are never enough hours in the day, but with the shortness of the days in this bleak midwinter the sense of time passing far too quickly is only heightened. Paradoxically, these last fleeting and precious moments of the year are also a time to pause and take stock of where we have been and where we are going. At the end of the two-thousand twelfth year of our Lord, there is much to consider.

The Age of Obama has been extended for another four years and the so-called "fiscal cliff" is no longer merely "looming" [N.B., this should be a top contender for the cliche of the year], but is now a rumbling avalanche sliding down the mountain of debt and red tape to crush and bury us all. At the same time as we stare with horror into this thundering torrent of such immense and unimaginably massive doom it is also a time to consider how much less we have as well.

The liberals tell us that we are too fat, so we must have less food, less salt, less sugar, less trans-fats (whatever those are), and less carbohydrates. We must also have less alcohol, less smoking, and less of anything fun. This dread scourge does not only afflict us as adults though. Our children are too fat as well and there are too many of them. We need smaller children in smaller classrooms. In this respect, the liberals may get their wish, because we already have fewer children in smaller families. There are now fewer families with both parents present than there are children with single mothers or born out of wedlock.

The liberals tell us that the earth is getting warmer (or colder depending on who you ask and when), so we need to use less gasoline and have smaller cars (or no cars at all) and drive slower and not travel as far. We must use less coal, so that means less electricity, less warmth, less energy, and less light. We are told to spend more time outdoors, but there is less of that too. There is less solitude and less wilderness and the little that is left is farther away and harder to get to. There is less quality entertainment. There are fewer movies about heroic men. Perhaps there are fewer heroic men to make movies about, or perhaps it is because the liberals have demonized and deconstructed all the heroes of our past and turned them into villains.

The liberals tell us that we must not offend, so there is less prayer, less faith, less Christmas, less God. There are fewer practicing Christians. Perhaps it falls under entertainment, but there is less Tebow too. Hollywood celebrities with broken lives tell us how to live so it should not astonish us that there is less virtue, less fidelity, and less modesty. Dishonest politicians tell us they have all the answers and yet there are fewer principles, less integrity, less responsibility, less humility, less cooperation, and less trust in our public institutions. Despite having less freedom (or maybe because of it) there is less security and less peace. There is less pride in America, less dreaming, less exploration, and less hope for the future.

The liberal solution always seems to be less of something. There is too much violence, so we need fewer guns. There is too much inequality, so we need less prosperity. There is too much suffering, so we need less comfort. There is too much death, so we need less life. In the end, that last point encapsulates the rest. There seems to just be less for us to give and less of anything at all. People are tired and worn and holding on desperately for something to change, but they are less and less sure what that something even is. People are yearning for more. We want more freedom. We want more hope. We want more heroes. We want more LIFE. Let us pray that in the new year we may find some.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

Birth of St. John the Baptist, by Jacopo Pontormo

This Sunday is the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The feast has been celebrated for millenia across the world as Midsummer--the same midsummer in Shakespeare's famous play--with festivities similar to Halloween in many ways, but emphasizing life instead of death. The media-created myth of the solstice as the first day of summer is a very recent innovation of our modern and decadent age.

Who can ignore or obscure the signs of summer all around us: the roses and tigerlillies have bloomed, lightning and lightning bugs fill the nights, the tender buds and shoots have changed to dark and thick green foliage, the wind now comes from the sea instead of the land, the winter wheat in farmers' fields is ready (or almost ready) for harvest, and of course, the pools have opened.

Do we really need the calendar or the television to tell us that summer arrived weeks and months ago?! Summer was already here long before the charlatans decreed that nature and the seasons must wait for the false precision and pseudoscience of the astronomical solstice. The profusion of life in nature waits for no man, and least of all the sham intellectuals and urbanites who are completely detached from nature, religion, history, and it seems, reality itself.

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The Last Day of Winter

For Catholics and many Protestants, today is the last day before the fasting and penance of Lent. Known variously as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, this is a day that started as a celebration and anticipation for the joy of Easter but has lately become another commercialized excuse for bad behavior. However, what many people have forgotten is that today is also the last day of winter--or at least it should be.

A popular urban legend has it that spring does not begin until March 20 this year. In recent years, calendar makers and the mainstream media have popularized the misguided idea that the equinox is the precise moment that winter ends and spring begins even though the changing of the seasons is a natural and gradual process that cannot be exactly predicted from one year to the next.

As the name implies, March is a month of changes, so instead of an abrupt switch at March 20, evidence that the process of spring has already begun is everywhere. That process is reminiscent of the adage that March “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” The high winds and freezing cold of February are already giving way to the verdure of spring.

We now live in an age where, for the first time in the history of the world, a majority of people live in cities and are detached from nature, so it is easy to understand why this urban legend has become so popular. Worse still, we are now subjected to faux-intellectual clichés such as the perennial, “it’s snowing in December but it’s not even winter yet.”

Such oxymoronic statements are evidence that the choice of any particular date for the beginning of each season is at best arbitrary. However, if we must choose a date, Ash Wednesday seems as good a choice as any, especially if we consider that the word “Lent” is derived from the old Germanic word for "spring." In the Mid-Atlantic region, this is a particularly good fit for the reasons below.

From a meteorological standpoint, the coldest and snowiest days of the year run from the first week in December to the first week in March:

1) In the Mid-Atlantic region, the average daily temperature drops to its lowest level almost exactly at the midpoint between December 1 and March 1, not at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Although temperatures are different, the midpoint of the temperature curve is similar in other regions.

2) Comparing daily temperatures for December and March, almost every Day in December is colder than the same day in March.

3) Average daily snowfall is highest in the throughout the months of December to February, not from December 20 to March 20.

From a botanical standpoint, deciduous plants start growing in late February and go into dormancy around early December:

4) The first blooms of spring--especially crocuses and daffodils--can be found in early to mid-March, or sometimes even late February, well before the vernal equinox.

5) Depending on location, the changing leaves achieve their peak color in late September through early November and start to fall very soon thereafter.

6) The average date of the last overnight frost of spring, and thus the time for planting crops ranges from mid-February in the South to mid-May in the Mountain West. Thus, the equinox is actually closer to the midpoint of spring from an agricultural standpoint.

From a cultural and historical standpoint, the season of spring has always included most or all of the month of March and possibly even February, whereas Summer is understood to begin in June, May, or even late April depending on who you ask:

7) Groundhog Day (or Candlemas) which is celebrated on February 2 is a tradition which sometimes results in a proclamation of “early spring.” Although the predictions of Punxatawney Phil and his cousins are wildly inaccurate when compared to actual weather data, the tradition is nevertheless a recognition that mild weather sometimes comes before March 1 and certainly long before the vernal equinox.

8) As mentioned above, Lent, which is derived from the Germanic root for "spring," begins between February 4 and March 10, but the average date of Ash Wednesday is on February 21.

9) Especially in the South, Easter is the first day it is considered acceptable to wear white pants, shoes, etc. which are traditionally associated with summer. The average date of Easter is on April 8.

10) Similarly, the feast of the Nativity of St. John is a popular holiday celebrated across Europe in late June which is known as midsummer, implying that spring has already ended and summer has begun long before the summer solstice.

11) The name of March comes from ancient Rome, when March was the first month of the year and named Martius after Mars, the Roman god of war. In Rome, where the climate is Mediterranean, March was the first month of spring, a logical point for the beginning of the year as well as the start of the military campaign season.

12) Data going back to 1974 indicate that retail prices for gasoline are higher on average for the months of May through September because the summer months are traditionally associated with car trips and vacations.

Finally, from a bureaucratic standpoint, no agency or body of the United States government has ever declared the solstices and the equinoxes as the “official” start and end of the seasons:

13) According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration which falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce, Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and thus coincides exactly with the traditional dates for summer and fall.

14) According to the Energy Information Administration which falls under the U.S. Department of Energy, the “winter heating season” runs from October 1 through March 31 and thus corresponds to the traditional dates for winter, with some extra padding on either end. The midpoint of the winter heating season is December 31.

15)The U.S. Naval Observatory which falls under the U.S. Department of Defense, provides a listing of the exact times for the equinoxes, solstices, perihelion, and aphelion which is titled “Earth’s Seasons” but does not state that these astronomical phenomena are in any way the “official” start or end of the seasons.

16) By law, Daylight Saving Time (DST) now starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Prior to 2007, when the new law went into effect, DST started on the last Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October. Just as the government definition of “winter heating season” includes padding on both ends of the traditional season, so too does DST includes padding on either end of the traditional summer season. The midpoint of DST is in mid-July.

In summary, the folklore of the equinox as the first day of spring is a modern idea which did not become fashionable until very recently. The idea has been popularized in the last few decades, because the exact times of certain phenomena are variable and can only be noted after they have occurred. At the same time the dates of many phenomena such as the last frost or peak fall leaves vary across the vastness of our continent.

However, instead of relying on the false precision of the astronomical equinox, we should base our understanding of the seasons on natural phenomena that we observe around us. Indeed, at this moment here in Virginia, the first tender green leaves and pink buds are coming out on the trees and shrubberies, the grass is starting to turn green again, and chirping birds are once again heralding the arrival of sunrise. Regardless of what the calendar makers would have you believe, spring is here.

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The Man with Two Faces

With an announcement today of a “federal property board” to evaluate and propose the sale of federal assets, President Obama demonstrated again his impeccable gift for exceptionally poor timing.

"For too long red tape and politics have prevented the government from moving forward on these fronts," the official said, adding that the board was expected to return $15 billion over the first three years in operation.

The White House estimates there are around 14,000 federal properties designated as excess, plus thousands of others which are either no longer needed, or are underutilized.

Democrat Obama, under intense pressure from his Republican opponents to cut government spending and narrow a budget deficit estimated at $1.645 trillion this fiscal year, is trying to squeeze savings by making the government more efficient.

This announcement comes just as members of Congress from Montana and Idaho are bringing legislation to the floor that would require Congressional approval before permanently closing federal lands to mineral and energy exploration.

Rehberg said his bill is needed because it was revealed last year that the Department of the Interior was planning to declare millions of acres in Montana as a national monument. "This 'Treasured Landscapes' plan relied heavily on input from a few special interest groups and seeks to abuse the Antiquities Act for the presidential designation of National Monuments across the west, including Montana," Rehberg said.

Thus, the Obama Administration is proposing the sale of federal property—although presumably only in urban areas—to generate a mere $15 billion over the next three years while at the same time closing off millions of acres of federal land to lucrative uses such as lumber, mining, cattle grazing, and energy drilling. According to the Bureau of Land Management’s own website:

The public lands provide significant economic benefits to the Nation and to states and counties where these lands are located. Revenues generated from public lands make BLM one of the top revenue-generating agencies in the Federal government. In 2007, for instance, BLM’s onshore mineral leasing activities will generate an estimated $4.5 billion in receipts from royalties, bonuses, and rentals that are collected by the Minerals Management Service. Approximately half of these revenues will be returned to the States where the mineral leasing occurred.

A savings of $15 billion is trivial compared to the overall deficit and is made even more laughable when compared to the loss of federal revenue for the use of public lands. The duplicity of this maneuver is enough to shock even the most cynical observer of national politics.

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Make Like a Car and Leaf

We've been down this road before.

The New York Times published an ecstatic review of the new Nissan Leaf today which claims the new zero-emissions production car is the "first all-electric car from a major auto company."  Apparently the Times didn't bother to check their facts.  The cute little coupe pictured above is the 1947 Tama which was built by Prince Motor Company in Japan.  In 1966, Prince Motor Company merged with...Nissan Motors.  So not only is the Leaf not the first all-electric car.  It's not even the first all-electric car made by Nissan.

Of course, the New York Times never lets the facts get in the way of a good story, but in this case, the facts are even more unbelievable:

“It just keeps getting better and better,” said Justin McNaughton, among the 20,000 people who have reserved a Leaf. “My wife thinks it’s funny because at the end of the day, we’re just buying a car.”

Since Mr. McNaughton, a lawyer in Nashville, paid his $99 deposit, he has been bombarded with government incentives — promises of a $7,500 federal tax credit, a $2,500 cash rebate from the state of Tennessee, and a $3,000 home-charging unit courtesy of the Energy Department.

That's right, the federal government and the state of Tennessee have promised Mr. McNaughton a combined $13,000 in government handouts to buy a car that only costs $32,000.  Best of all, the Times reports that the Nissan factory which will make new Leafs (Leaves?) hasn't even been built yet.  Thus, your taxpayer dollars are being given away to promote a car made in Japan.  When President Obama spoke of creating 5 million new "green" jobs making fluorescent lightbulbs and electric cars, who knew that his vision was to create those jobs overseas?

More importantly, how green is an electric car really?  According to the Department of Energy, fossil fuels accounted for more than 70% of electricity generation in 2008.  Coal alone accounts for roughly 50%.  Thus, Obama's pledge to create "green" electricity with windmill farms seems particularly quixotic when we consider that hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass (i.e., doo-doo) account for barely 8.5% of the total national output.  The Nissan Leaf might as well come with a bumper sticker already applied at the factory that says, "This Car Runs on COAL."

Aside from the outsourcing of American jobs and the negligible environmental benefits, the Leaf also has a major practical problem.  According to the Nissan website, the car only has a maximum range of 100 miles.  So if you want to drive the 99 miles from Baltimore to Philadelphia, you better hope there aren't any detours!  According to the manufacturer, a full charge takes 8 hours, so if you want to take a short road trip of a few hundred miles, you're going to need to make a lot of stops.

Bottom line, without massive investments in nuclear and renewable energy and major advances in battery technology, an electric car is neither environmentally sound or very practical.  Ironically, even Mr. Electricity himself, Thomas Edison, couldn't make an electric car that was commercially viable and despite more than 100 years of progress, the internal combustion engine still reigns supreme.

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"BP Will Pay"

The New York Times reports on President Obama's speech last night with the type of puffery we would expect from the mainstream media. Apparently, the American people--especially the people on the Gulf Coast most directly affected by the spill--are supposed to take solace that the President has appointed a commission.

Until now he has employed most of the tools of his office, imposing a deepwater drilling moratorium, traveling repeatedly to the region, firing an agency director and appointing a commission. He used a few more Tuesday night, summoning the cameras to the Oval Office, appointing a long-term recovery coordinator and demanding that the company responsible, BP, set up a multibillion-dollar escrow account to compensate the victims.

Meanwhile, oil continues to leak from the seafloor despite BP's efforts to bring the well under control. While Obama is busy appointing new oil spill czars, the Associated Press reports that government scientists have increased their estimates of the oil being leaked by a factor of 10, up to as much as 2.5 million gallons per day. Even if BP succeeds in shutting off the flow, there will still be 50-100 million gallons of oil loose out in the Gulf of Mexico, waiting to be washed ashore by the first hurricane that comes through, or worse, to be spread along the entire eastern seaboard by the Gulf Stream current.

In the White House transcript of Obama's speech, one line jumps out as an indicator of how the President is still underestimating the vastness of the spill. While outlining his plan for recovery, Obama took pains to assure the American people that, "BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region," but Obama's $20 billion escrow fund is nothing compared to the mind boggling scale of this disaster.

Even if BP is deemed by the new oil spill czar to be liable for unlimited damage claims, Obama's plan has one major problem: what happens when BP runs out of money? The Washington Post reports that as members of Congress scathe BP's leaders with a withering crossfire of recriminations, they are also selling all stocks related to BP. At the same time, BP's shares have declined by almost 50% since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon on April 20.

Obama is talking tough and is even taking tough actions, but the real measure of his leadership skills is whether his actions actually bring the spill under control and repair the damage. In both cases, he continues to push all responsibility to BP. This may be a good political tactic, but it also comes with a big risk. If BP ultimately fails, the responsibility he now evades will come back to him--with interest.

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The Real Enemy is Cynicism

President Obama famously said while still a candidate that, "...our rivals won't be one another, and I would assert it won't even be the other party.  It's going to be cynicism that we're fighting against."  Apparently he is waging an epic internal struggle against himself.  The Washington Post reports today that Obama has realized that the crude oil bubbling up in the Gulf of Mexico is destroying more than federally protected wetlands.  In response, he is now going to press for climate change legislation in a cynical move to deflect public anger away from himself.

President Obama tried Wednesday to channel public outrage about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill into support for a climate-change bill, seeking to redefine an issue that threatens to tarnish his presidency.

...Allies of the president have argued for weeks that the administration should stop talking about BP, the oil company responsible for the spill, and instead tap into the public attention to the catastrophe in hopes of giving it at least some redemptive value in the long term.

Obama fears that this crisis could destroy what little credibility he has left with an angry American public.  President Obama made a big point during his press conference to tell the nation that he's "in charge," but after spending so much time trying to convince the American people that he can do anything, Obama now must grapple with the limits of the government's power.  Congress can pass as many laws as they would like and the Justice Department can sue everything in sight, but the oil keeps bubbling up.

When a disaster strikes, people often look to the government for help.  Floods and earthquakes are acts of God and only a few fringe crackpots would think of blaming the government in their aftermath.  This disaster is different.  Although Obama claims that BP bears full responsibility, it is clear that government regulations meant to avert this type of spill were not being enforced.  Few people will be fooled by a cynical ploy to divert attention away from the spill and the government failures which contributed to it.  Obama can talk himself blue in the face about punishing BP, but what about reforming government?

Presumably, Democrats in the House of Representatives did not anticipate a massive oil spill when they passed their version of the climate change legislation almost a year ago.  Jamming the same legislation through the Senate would be a naked power grab, and would do nothing to reduce the dangers of another spill.  Furthermore, as long as the sludgy crude oil is washing ashore, it is ludicrous for Obama to ask people to entrust the government with even more power when his administration is so obviously unable to wield the power it already has.

[Editor's Note: if you would like to help the cleanup efforts in the Gulf, please support one of the charities listed in an earlier post here on the Prolix Patriot.]

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Water, Water, Everywhere

Alcatraz Island, like any National Park, is sprinkled with information panels detailing the history of the place, the local flora and fauna, and so forth.  However, in this particular park, there is one panel that does not depict a historical event, but rather, makes a prediction about the future.  Perhaps inspired by the new brand of post-apocalyptic science fiction that is regularly broadcast on the so-called "History Channel," the Park Service helpfully shows what the coastline of San Francisco would look like during a 100-year flood.

As you might expect, these dire predictions are accompanied by the usual environmentalist alarmism about how everyone needs to do their part.  If we all work together and change a few light bulbs, we can turn back the forces of nature!  Sadly, such alarmism ignores the plain facts of history.  Like most cities, large parts of San Francisco's waterfront were built on landfill.  For purposes of comparison, a map published in 1855 shows the original coastline and the man-made areas of the city.

The map above is a composite which shows the original shoreline in red.  From it, one can see that the areas most in danger of flooding are precisely those areas that were under water before the massive building boom of the California gold rush.  When faced with the threat of natural disasters, the environmentalist response is always that we should make sacrifices and change our lives in order to accommodate the vagaries of nature's wrath.  A man-made problem cannot possibly have a man-made solution.

The areas presumed to be in danger of flooding were originally built with vastly inferior 19th century technology.  It stands to reason that the citizens of San Francisco will figure out some way to avoid inundation in the next 90 years, but you will never hear an environmentalist admit that, in the relentless march of human progress, we will find new ways of dealing with nature.  Science is only useful when it supports the environmentalist cult of sacrifice.

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It's Not Easy Being Green

The New York Times and most major news outlets are providing fresh reports that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is moving toward land and that the oil is leaking much faster than initial estimates.  What started as the tragic loss of eleven lives is threatening to become a much larger disaster.  In addition to maps showing the endangered bayous and marshes, the New York Times and others are reproducing pictures of the encroaching oil slick from Greenpeace, such as the one above.

According to their mission statement, "Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future."  In this unfolding environmental catastrophe, they are certainly holding up the first part of that mission, but what about promoting solutions?

After 9/11 and Katrina, people across the country eagerly rushed to lend a hand.  On blogs, people posted links to charities that were on site helping people and suggested other ways to get involved.  Companies held blood drives, food drives, and assembled care packages.  In the face of adversity, private citizens and organizations came together and demonstrated the real strength of America in the bonds of community and free association.

Looking at Greenpeace's news releases, blog pages, and action center, there don't appear to be any suggestions of things that people can actually do to help.  According to Wikipedia, Greenpeace has more than 2.8 million members around the world.  Aside from sending emails to politicians demanding an end to offshore drilling, what is the world's premier environmental activism organization doing to actually help the environment when it is needed most?  The answer, sadly, is nothing.

However, there are ways you can help!  CNN reports that there are conservation organizations that are seeking volunteers and donations to begin the cleanup efforts.  The Audubon Society, Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Mobile Baykeeper, Save Our Seabirds, Oiled Wildlife Care Network, and the International Bird Rescue Research Center are all gearing up on the Gulf Coast to help birds and other animals that become fouled by the floating oil.  Unlike Greenpeace, these organizations can actually make a difference.

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Hug a Planet

Happy Earth Day!  In all seriousness though, environmentalism has moved far beyond reasonable scientific arguments and has become something of a religion.  In order to maintain an energized base of activists, the movement now seeks radical changes to the way we live our lives, but unfortunately, environment-worship is no longer as far out on the fringe as the druids pictured above.  As the Washington Post reports, today will be marked with festivals and gatherings, complete with corporate sponsorships.

The [original] organizers wanted it to be one-time event, but it has become an annual, global celebration. The first one cost about $122,000 to put on; today, the Earth Day Network, which oversees Earth Day worldwide, boasts an $8.5 million budget and a long roster of corporate sponsors, including Underwriters Laboratories, Siemens, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, AT&T Mobile and Procter & Gamble.

As the Post observes, the environmentalist movement was initially a response to the very real problem of uncontrolled pollution which led to urban smog, acid rain, and poisoned rivers.  Nobody can deny that by placing strict limits on pollution we have made the world better for ourselves.  Compare old photos of the dingy and blackened skies of a 19th century cityscape to the clear blue skies of today and the difference is remarkable.

However, the environmental movement has moved beyond logical arguments for the protection of nature to a post-modern rejection of all human activity whatsoever.  Once venerable groups such as the Sierra Club now advocate for reduction of the human population.  The Earth Day Network provides a helpful list of personal sacrifices you can make to help the planet: "turn off unneeded lights," "drive less," "avoid using air conditioners," and so on, finally leading up to the ultimate summation of the eco-nihilist worldview, "be a minimalist."

Nature should be admired, enjoyed, and protected, and there are many real problems that demand action.  However, the environmental movement has become counterproductive by embracing a quasi-religious and pseudo-scientific belief system.  As we have seen with the climate email scandal, adherents of this belief system have gravely injured the credibility of science as a whole so that even sound arguments will now face tougher scrutiny and fiercer opposition.  In short, the environmentalist culture of self-sacrifice has also become one of self-destruction.

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We Only Have One Planet

Tomorrow, billions of people around the world will be turning off their lights for an hour to promote awareness that we live on a planet called Earth.  This is distinct from other "holidays" in the cult of Gaia such as Earth Day (April 22), Arbor Day (April 30), National Environmental Education Week (April 11-17), National Conservation Day (October 28), World Environment Day (June 5), and the list goes on and on.

Apparently, this profusion of earth-loving "holidays" has failed to raise awareness to a sufficient level, so it is doubtful whether the so-called "Earth Hour" will be any more lasting.  Still, we should all do our part, so here are some helpful suggestions on how you can participate.  Your planet will thank you!

• Drive your car at night with the headlights off
• Perform brain surgery in the dark
• Go jogging in the middle of a dark country road
• Unplug all clocks that have a light-emitting display
• Go to a bar and turn off the TV during the final minutes of an NCAA basketball game

Of course, if you don't buy into this whole love your earth-mother, happy-clappy, kumbaya movement, it turns out you are not alone.  Many people will be actively protesting this day of global awareness by turning on their lights and appliances to celebrate the technological triumph of mankind.  Both sides are in agreement on one thing though: stay away from paraffin candles.  "WWF recommends using non-petroleum based candles, like sustainably sourced soy candles, during Earth Hour."

Who knew that there was such a thing as soy candles?  I guess Earth Hour is raising awareness after all.

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