On the Economy and Jobs

To date, this is the most political post I've ever written.  After reading it, if you decide to think of me as an ass, idiot, or moron, please feel free to do so; I'm used to it - it's the price to pay for being a renaissance man.  And, we are entitled to our opinions.  I've had the opportunity to observe the social, environmental, and economic landscape for decades and this post is a result of just a fraction of what I witnessed.

In my not so humble opinion, radical environmentalists are a rather silly bunch.  They would rather protect a scenic view than provide electricity to an overburdened power grid.  These folks will stop a major water artery that supplies a city, like a river, to protect a handful of nearly extinct fish.  And, they do not care that the city must truck in water from outside sources.  It's all about saving the fish.  The facts speak loudly:  several species of life become extinct everyday.  This is just not the cycle of life, but the environmental survival of the fittest.  If you want an argument on this, go talk to a dinosaur.  Well, what do expect from a guy who is a member of the original PETA Society - People Eating Tasty Animals?  And in my opinion, radical environmentalists have stifled our economy and real job creation.

The Keystone Pipeline is a case in point.  A major objection was that the pipeline would interfere with a major watershed, possibly causing the pollution of the drinking water.  That would be horrible but our present and evolving science and technology can prevent that from happening.  And, there are other pipelines and watersheds in the USA that appear to exist in comfortable compatibility (google the maps).  Another complaint to halt the pipeline is that the process of extracting oil from oil sands is dirtier (more pollution) than extracting it from beneath the earth's surface.  Again, I believe that emerging science and technology, coupled with what we already know, can easily handle those negative effects.  The same can be said about Clean Coal.  The point here is that these two energy sources could create 100,000 plus real jobs is not far fetched at all.

The phrase, Drill Here, Drill Now, should not be just words that conjure up the memories of the oil boom days of the 1950's and 1960's.  We have the oil; let's move forward.  That new oil will need new refineries.  When was the last time we built a refinery in the USA?  We do have the science and technology with more on the way to proceed in a safe and efficient manner.  The real job creation in this endeavor, I believe, will rival that of the Keystone Pipeline and Clean Coal.

Our vast array of technology requires a variety of trace minerals.  Although we have many fields of these minerals in the southwestern USA, we prefer to import them from China, along with the majority of our cotton.  So what the hell happened that we import most of our cotton from China?  Good question and good luck finding a reasonable answer.  Those trace minerals - we have the resources, science, and the technology to harvest our own.  It is now time to do just that, rather than having our science, technology, and our people held hostage in the near future by a foreign power.  The harvesting of those trace minerals can be done while maintaining a healthy environment.  The creation of real jobs will be in the thousands.

Cotton was briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph.  Another crop that needs to be brought back is Industrial Hemp.  Hemp was a staple crop when the USA was just the original thirteen colonies and to this day has many worthy purposes.  However, with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, Industrial Hemp was outlawed, along with medical marijuana.  Here is the BUT.  We import Industrial Hemp from China, Canada, and France.  One of the places where this import is used is in the upholstery of our newly manufactured automobiles.  In my opinion, Industrial Hemp is a real job creator and must be brought back to the American landscape.

To many, I am sure, I come off as a real hard-ass without regard for our environment; that is not true.  The proceeding paragraphs contain ideas and opinions concerning the economy and job creation NOW.  But, without forward thinking in our NOW, the future can be a dim one.

The research, development, and implementation of alternative energy such as solar and wind power must begin NOW and proceed in lockstep with the previously mentioned energy sources.  So far, when it comes to alternative energy, the talk has been empty and cheap.  The time of cheap talk is over; it's time for the powers that be to belly up to the bar and buy the house a few rounds.  The development and implementation of alternative energy is a huge real job creator.

The thought, the proposition, the idea that I do not care about the earth is incorrect.  My personal opinion is that we can do all of the previously mentioned things and still have a healthy environment.  My opinion may seem a bit naive to a radical environmentalist but I do not think so.  We humans need to remember a few things about our earth.

We know from science that the earth is billions of years old.  Science also tells us that we humans have been on the planet for about 200,000 or so years.  And, we began our march from an agrarian to industrialized society only about 250 years ago.  Also, science has told us that the earth has gone through a few Ice Ages, proceeded by a warming period.  Wanting to help the planet is not a bad thing but trying to save it is silly; the earth has survived far worse than us.  And, who knows.  One day Mother Earth just may swat us off her surface like a horse uses her tail to swat off pesky flies.  But you can, as an individual, help the planet by planting a garden, taking advantage of reusable grocery bags, and recycling your empty beer cans.  Our planet will save itself, despite our best efforts.  In the meantime, save yourself and demand real jobs.  Our planet will be here long after Walmart is nothing more than a bunch of empty buildings.

                                              Copyright @2013 Terry Unger