Build the Pipelines in Return for Cap & Trade & "Network" shows us why we are where we are

We re-watched "Network" last night, the 1976 movie on how the pressures of capitalism create the forces that produce what the masses will watch and the lengths people will go to preserve their path to economic success.  Providing products that a greater number of people will buy is what capitalism is all about.

So when RedStateVT complains about the trash in movies and games, he is correct, but also fighting a futile war just as I am when I detest talk radio bullish*t.  All this stuff sells and short of censorship, which no one is advocating, you just have to deal with all this.

David Brooks today muses about where this age of electronic entertainment has taken us.  I can personally add to that because I have noticed how my addiction to card games on my iPhone has shortened my attention span.  Turning 60 might also have something to do with that, but I don't know about that.  David is disappointed with this because he thinks people who don't study culture are missing one of the meanings of life.  It is a philosophical point that I agree with, but also one that has always found a limited audience in the masses.

Link to David Brooks column

I must reiterate that I hate NIMBY's.  If you don't build pipelines, economic necessity will force the products to travel by other means.  Clearly, it is not safe to ship liquid energy raw materials by train.  It is not economic or environmentally efficient to ship them by road.  If you don't want the risk of train cars exploding in someone's neighborhood, you have to build some pipelines.  It is both environmentally and economically sound.  As a trade-off, perhaps the GOP could support Cap & Trade in return for as many pipelines as are needed.

How many exploding trains do we need to convince environmentalist's that we need pipelines?  There is dangerous water pollution from leaking rail cars.  Meanwhile, the Sierra club opposes new pipelines in NY State that eliminate surface transport.  Do they think 13 million people can live somewhere without using any energy?  I know the Sierra Club is hopeless because they are just as bad as the Koch Brothers only coming from the other direction.