Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/299079
While more than 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as environmentalists, the environmental issues of today are less immediate than dirty air, toxic water, and a hole in the ozone layer, and more abstract and difficult to explain like the threat of global climate change and the impacts of unsustainable practices on complex ecosys- tems. As such I use the word enigma to characterize Earth today because it is a thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or dif - ficult to understand like a mys- tery, puzzle, riddle, conundrum, paradox, problem or quandary to all too many of us. Earth Day's history is rooted in 1960s activism over the vis - ible ruins of our environment where at times one could not see across the street because of pollution. Despite the an - ger, green issues were absent from the U.S. political agenda, which frustrated U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, whose campaigns for the envi - ronment through much of the 1960s had fallen flat. Then in 1969 he hit on the idea of an en- vironmental protest modeled after anti-Vietnam War dem- onstrations called teach-ins. So ever since 1970 Americans have celebrated Earth Day to express concerns about what was happening to the land, riv - ers, lakes, and air—and we continue to do so today with exuberance. An unfortunate result of ap - preciating our ecosystem com- plexity and interdependency is to confound many who have nei- ther the time nor patience to understand statistics and sci- entific methods needed to make informed decisions, choosing instead to rely upon the views of selected "experts" and po - litical pundits. When doing so it is vital to consider their mo- tives before accepting their views – since many are funded by those that profit from eco- system abuse. Realize too that many climate change deniers go so far as to assert that sci- entists like me are puppets of a left-wing conspiracy of univer- sities and media titans to ag- grandize ourselves at your ex- pense. I assure you that noth- ing is further from the truth as we prognosticate our collective demise in the alternative to re- sponsible action. Environmentalists are mo- tivated not to act out of greed but out of altruistic concern for children that inherit a less sustainable planet. One can - not deny that humans are in- creasingly reliant on resources as population increases, living standards improve, and non-re- newable resources are depleted world-wide. It is incumbent upon us in developed countries to reduce our burden on the planet by living more sustain - ably and helping those in devel- oping countries to do so before it is too late. Hence this is no time to squabble over who is adversely affected by carbon taxes, emis - sions controls, resource effi- ciency mandates, and incen- tives for renewable energy technologies but a time for an evolved society to step up to the plate and do what is right. Those that fear job loss, profit loss, and loss of freedoms be - cause of steps to ensure we leave our planet in better shape than we find it fail to appreciate the priceless value of an envi - ronment hospitable for human life. We must place more value upon clean water, air, and pris- tine environs by making more sustainable choices that im- prove social justice, environ- mental quality, and economic equity starting today. I encourage you this Earth Day to better understand your personal impacts on our ecol - ogy by going to www.earthday. org/footprint-calculator to esti- mate how many planet earth's are required to support your lifestyle, should everyone live as you. If you are like me you will be struck with a tremen - dous sense of grief and oppor- tunity to realize we live far be- yond the planet's ability to sup- port us. This reality, much like our national economy deficits, must evoke changes so we stop enriching ourselves at the det - riment of our children. It is my hope, and impera- tive, to do all I can to impart an awareness of the part each and every one of us plays in protect- ing our planet from irrespon- sible and irreversible damage. We must become more aware of the tolls we place on the planet both individually and collec - tively to change our minds, change our lives, and change our world to ensure human sur- vival in an abundant world. To do otherwise is to blindly fall further down a rabbit hole to a point of no return by failing to address the enigma of Earth Day 2014. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired re - search engineer specializing in en- ergy efficiency and renewable en- ergy. He has travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los Molinos, where he is striving to manifest a sustainable and spir - itual lifestyle and operate a bar- becue equipment and supply busi- ness. He can be reached at living- green@att.net. Richard Mazzucchi Addressing the enigma of Earth Day 2014 Cartoonist's take The just-concluded Red Bluff Roundup is a reminder that the entire sport — from ranch hand rodeos displaying practical as - pects of cattle wrangling and horsemanship, up to and includ- ing commercialized, widely pro- moted events — are based on the range, the ranch and the men and women whose vocations derive there from. Take away the range, either through conversion into residential spreads too small for herds or by arbitrary governmen - tal regulatory decree, and there is the risk of relegating the heritage and viability of cattle ranches into outdoor museums. The Department of the Inte - rior's Bureau of Land Manage- ment (BLM), a relative new kid on the western block compared to century-plus ranching opera- tions, makes decisions about spe- cies and habitats never specif- ically voted on by elected rep- resentatives. Such decisions recently stirred up armed re- sistance in Nevada. The BLM also simply decreed, again ab- sent a vote by the people or their elected officials, that a legal, longstanding grazing right for rancher Cliven Bundy in Nevada was now subject to further lim - its on the number of cattle — a fraction of what he and genera- tions of Bundys had sustainably grazed there. He refused to recognize the BLM's authority and right to is - sue decrees over the 20+ year old designation of turtle habitat, while continuing to charge graz- ing fees for a vastly reduced eco- nomic value. Bundy was the vic- tim of a literal "taking" of a pre- viously agreed monetary grazing right — without compensation as would be required were the BLM to condemn part of his pri - vate property for a public use, like a road, etc. The BLM then used legal, regulatory and judi- cial authority to commence seiz- ing what they deemed "trespass cattle," meaning they acted as, if not the judge and jury, certainly the executioner or jailer for Bun - dy's private property. I've stated it as forthrightly as possible, while presenting facts and a perspective that has eluded even certain conservative commentators who have simpli - fied the situation to a "rule of, and adherence to, the law un- til it's legally changed through the democratic process." The "Bundy-as-scofflaw" theme is an arguable one and contains cor - relations to the so-called "tax protester" refusing to pay in- come taxes. However, tax laws are changed and amended by our elected representatives, not by the enforcing mechanism of the IRS itself; the actions of the BLM, as stated above, proceeded from bureaucratic decisions many degrees removed from di - rect Congressional votes. Indeed, when an existing use of land or resources predates newer rules or laws by agen - cies or lawmakers, the impor- tant considerations and rights are 1) "grandfathering" of those uses previously legal—for over a hundred years in Bundy's case— or 2) a fair, open compensation for value lost. These are among the most basic of mandates upon government in the panoply, or bundle, of private property rights that predate even the U.S. Constitution. The willingness and appear - ance of armed citizens and mili- tia members is troubling on one level but encouraging on another when one considers that the only recourse against militarized des - potism by agencies such as the BLM, ATFE, and others (the De- partment of Education has SWAT teams and vast stocks of am- munition—for what, I ask?) is an armed citizenry. Our Found- ers knew this and wrote of it— "the militia" was the entire pop- ulation of armed adults capable of mustering against governmen- tal oppression, not just the Mili- tias or National Guard under gov- ernment authorization. I think it was a necessary provocation by armed citizens, that produced the reasonable reaction by BLM to back off, return the seized cattle (minus some calf deaths) and, hopefully, pursue their case against Bundy in a less milita - rized, less dictatorial manner. I must call attention to one of the most despicable, hypocriti- cal and arrogant Senators in his- tory: Harry Reid of Nevada (de- cried "lawlessness" by Bundy). To most on the progressive left, "lawlessness" is subject to their interpretation: Immigration laws are apparently meant to be broken, I mean adapted to con - sider the needs of the masses who broke our laws to be here. Obamacare getting rewritten at Obama's whim—not a problem. In Reid's case, he is accused of il - legally taking six-figure bribes to make "a federal investigation into (Jeremy Johnson's) company quietly disappear" (Salt Lake Tribune). Guilt is yet to be de - termined. Reid never expressed a discouraging word over then- Pres. Bill Clinton's felonious ac- tions obstructing justice, as de- termined by courts. Along with numerous Demo- crats, Reid has zero shame call- ing the militia and armed cit- izens at the BLM/Bundy con- frontation "domestic terrorists." Leftists never said a bad word about gun-wielding Black Pan- thers in the 1960s, as I recall. Finally, has Reid ever called Islamist murderers "terrorists", such as Capt. Hassan's terrorist attack on unarmed people at Ft. Hood? Did Reid or media report - ers identify Hassan as a "Soldier of Allah" (stated on his own busi- ness card)? However, "neo-nazi" and "white supremacist" accom- panied every mention of the guy who killed people at the Jewish centers in Kansas. Duplicitous hacks and speech manipulators proliferate in Congress and the news media. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com. Don Polson Lawlessness, terrorists — in the eye of beholder I am announcing a new venture to grow aspara-ber- ries. While I haven't pro- duced any aspara-berries yet, I do have a website con- taining maps of actual acre- age where the plants could be grown. I'm also tweeting furiously about how my new business is certain to revo - lutionize farming. Plus, I'm available for print and tele- vision interviews. That said, I wonder if ma- jor news organizations such as CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Huffington Post will cover the aspara- berry story — treating it with all the unequivocal seri - osity it clearly deserves? For the answer, let's look at the somewhat similar case of Joshua Ziering, 28, a San Francisco entrepreneur with a background in mar - keting, a fascination with model airplanes and a flair for media manipulation. Mr. Ziering recently dreamed up a company called QuiQui (pronounced "quickie"), and created a cool website. Rather than having me explain what QuiQui is all about, I refer you to the Huffington Post headline last month: "Drugstore De - livery Drones Are Coming To San Francisco." Seems imminent, but is it accurate? Apparently when it comes to today's "trend - ing" stories, no one really knows, and no one really cares. The Post reporter says she interviewed Mr. Ziering but her story never clarifies that QuiQui is, at best, an idea in search of: funding, a relationship with a pharmacy, clarification of FAA rules and, most im - portantly, drones. The article did include a picture of a drone, presum- ably belonging to Mr. Zier- ing. But if readers allowed their computer mouse to hover over the image, they would see text explain - ing that the drone was in fact taking aerial photos in South Africa. The report does cor - rectly cite Mr. Ziering's pledge that QuiQui's deliv- eries (if there ever are any) will not include medical marijuana. But for some, like the International Busi- ness Times, such details spoil a great story. Its head- line: "Medical Marijuana Delivered by Flying Drones: QuiQui Launches San Fran- cisco Prescription Service." I must concede that af- ter speaking with Mr. Zier- ing at length myself, I'm not sure what to make of his enthusiastic spin on the drone delivery business. All he will say is, "Failure is a completely acceptable out - come, but at least I'll be the first to do it." Clearer than his pie-in- the-sky business plan is the fact that when a story like this comes along, media — particularly online outlets — like to post first and ask questions...well, in this case, never. Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, "Cau - tiously Optimistic," is avail- able at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. PeteR Funt Media drones and the media's confusion in accuracy Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor eDitoRial BoaRD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151 ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FaCEbook.CoM/ rbdailynEwS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @rEdbluFFnEwS OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com tuesday, april 22, 2014 » MORE AT FaCEbook.CoM/rbdailynEwS AND TwiTTEr.CoM/rEdbluFFnEwS a6