As even a NY Times writer acknowledges, the Keystone Pipeline being built will have a negligible effect on green house gases. Link to Q&A on Keystone Pipeline But what it does offer us an insight into the length that NIMBY's go to arouse fear and anger in the ignorant. Not unlike what the Tea Party does on their perceived personal freedom issues.
One of the most interesting articles yesterday was a story about how the anti-tax crowd are after Senators to vote no on an increase in the cost of Duck shooting licenses because it would be an increase in fee income for the government (i.e. taxes). However, the bill authorizing this increase specifically states that the revenue will go to pay for duck breeding programs that will increase the number of ducks available to shoot, so Duck hunters are actually in favor of this. I didn't know there was a shortage of ducks to shoot, as there is certainly no shortage of Canadian Geese and they are a protected species and one I would like to let my dog chase.
But in any case, I thought the Republicans were in favor of use fees so that only people who use a service have to pay for it, rather than using general tax revenues. This is very personal for me as I was discussing the cost of driving I95, as I did 6 weeks ago, with a friend yesterday. My friend is helping a brother who has cancer remodel his house in Virginia and is driving I95 from Boston to D.C. and back every other week. He figures it costs him about $40 in tolls each way and I believe him. That adds up but at least these roads and bridges are being maintained. This is what the fee for use tax system is all about. It does seem outrageous to pay that much in tolls, but no one wants to be stuck in a traffic jam or lose a tire or two to a vicious pothole (as I did a 2 years ago). And if the government can't fund road maintenance, I guess tolls are the only way to do it. The economy needs the trucks to keep moving.
So anyway, some NIMBY's fought off the Keystone Pipeline for a moment, while other NIMBY's want the trains carrying that same crude to somehow stop. I find exploding trains much scarier than potentially leaking pipelines. And when a train derails, as we know they do with a certain unpredictable regularity, they pollute water because railroad tracks are almost always built next to river beds. You cannot have a functioning economy without energy and to have energy oil and natural gas need to be moved around the country. That requires pipelines.
So build Keystone. Build the natural gas pipeline from Binghamton to Albany. Trains and trucks are much more dangerous.
And if you have NIMBY tendencies, please at least try to be rational and articulate about why you oppose something.
And to the GOP, if I am going to be openminded about this, please be openminded about my desire to do something to control the increasing cost of healthcare in this country. The Affordable Health Care act is a Heritage Foundation designed effort to use the private sector to improve the delivery and cost of health care which now represents 18% of our GDP. The baby boom with drive that higher in their retirement and it needs to be controlled. Wise men designed RomneyCare and it deserves intelligent debate. It does not deserve NIMBY fear mongering.
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