The Skeeter Daddle Diaries

Suppose astronomers discovered a meteor out by Pluto with an elliptical orbit that put it on a direct path with Earth. Big flying chunk of space rock aimed right at us with enough mass to obliterate the planet when it hits us and every year the scientists calculated its trajectory and every year were more certain the asteroid was going to hit Earth. What would you want the governments of the planet to do?

One group of scientists propose building a spaceship to intercept the Killer Rock armed with nuclear warheads. Actually they propose building a fleet of these Defense Missiles to insure the meteor is destroyed in case one or more don’t do the job, miss completely or fail to blow it up completely. The price tag is enormous. Sure, building that fleet would create jobs but nowhere near enough to pay for the project. Another group wants to develop lasers to tackle the mission and yet another proposes a strategy to divert the monster meteor away from the Earth.

Many years pass. The government here in the United States studies the problem for a time, but the will to act is not there. Taxes would need to be raised and a publicity campaign mounted to alert our citizenry to the dire consequences of not taking action. If nothing is done, the window of opportunity will be lost. Every year the planet’s scientific community, citing more and more accurate data, begins to assemble a Doomsday Scenario. In twenty years, then fifteen years, then ten, the possibility of deflecting or destroying the threat will be gone. Earth will be hit, possibly destroyed completely, definitely most of the planet will be set back into a dark age. Millions of lives will be lost, starvation will be commonplace, civilization will retreat.

The government of the United States, rather than begin preparations, calls the killer meteor a hoax. Bogus science, the Congress claims. Faux news, the President repeats endlessly. The preparations to build a world defense system, begun before the current Administration, are abandoned. Without our assistance, the plans probably won’t be completed in time. The United Nations issues a report that in ten years we will have reached the point of No Return. Nothing we can do after that will stop the coming impact.

What would you want our government to do? Save increased taxes by doing absolutely nothing? Question the science with a few politically motivated ‘experts’ who claim the data is wrong? Pray for Armageddon so you can ascend to Heaven?

Global Warming won’t wipe out the planet. It will disrupt civilization and it will kill millions of us. Anyone who understands how a greenhouse works in the garden can imagine how an atmosphere can trap heat and keep raising temperatures. There are processes at work that can accelerate the heating and yes, there are seasonal variations that an ‘expert’ can point to as proof that Climate Change is a hoax. If they’re right, we saved a fortune in taxes for ‘solutions’ that weren’t needed. And we saved those coal jobs too, don’t forget. If they’re wrong, we just condemned the planet to a man-made catastrophe.

Right now it looks like America is ready to roll the dice. Kind of a colossal gamble to save a few bucks. I wonder if we’re really that greedy or we’re being sold a bill of goods by those who are.

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