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GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD 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 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 History,onthe"rightside"ofwhich Barack Obama endeavors to keep us, has a sense of whimsy. Proof of which is some- thing happening this week: Britain's last deep-pit coal mine is closing, a small event pertinent to an enormous event, the In- dustrial Revolution, which was ignited by British coal. Themineclosureshould not, however, occasion cart- wheels by the climate's sav- iors, fresh from their Paris achievement. The mine is pri- marily a casu- alty of declin- ing coal prices, a result of bur- geoning world energy supplies. Thanks largely to the devel- oping world, demand for coal is expected to increase for at least another quarter-cen- tury. The mine is closing imme- diately after the planet's lat- est "turning point" — the 21st U.N. climate change con- ference since 1995, each her- alded as a "turning point." The climate conference, like God in Genesis, looked upon its work and found it very good. It did so in spite of, or perhaps because of, this fact: Any agreement about any- thing involving nearly 200 nations will necessarily be primarily aspirational, ex- horting voluntary compliance with inconsequential expec- tations — to "report" on this and "monitor" that. A sin- gle word change that brought the agreement to fruition: it replaced a command (nations "shall" do so and so) with an entreaty (nations "should" do so and so). Secretary of State John Kerry knew that any agree- ment requiring U.S. expen- ditures and restrictions on wealth creation would founder on the reef of repre- sentative government. He re- members why Bill Clinton flinched from seeking Senate ratification of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol: The Senate voted 95-0 for a resolution disap- proving the Protocol's princi- ples, with Massachusetts Sen. Kerry among the 95. Eighteen years later, Sen- ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of whose in- valuable functions is to be a wet blanket about moveable feasts such as the Paris con- ference, says: "Before [the president's] international partners pop the champagne, they should remember that this is an unattainable deal based on a [U.S.] domestic energy plan that is likely ille- gal, that half the states have sued to halt, and that Con- gress has already voted to re- ject." The Paris agreement prob- ably occasions slight excite- ment among the planet's bil- lion people who lack elec- tricity, and the hundreds of millions in need of pota- ble water. Historians, write Walter Russell Mead and Ja- mie Horgan of The Amer- ican Interest, are likely to say that the Paris agree- ment ended climate change the way the 1928 Kellogg-Bri- and Treaty ended war. But as the ink dries on the Paris gesture of right-mindedness, let us praise the solar en- ergy source most responsi- ble for the surge of human betterment that began with the harnessing of fossil fuels around 1800. The source is, of course, coal, a still abundant and in- dispensable form in which the sun's energy has been captured from carbon-based life. Matt Ridley, a member of a British coal-producing fam- ily and author of "The Ratio- nal Optimist," notes that the path of mankind's progress, material as well as moral, has been from reliance on re- newable but insufficient en- ergy sources to today's 85 percent reliance on energy from fossil fuels. The progression has been from reliance on human (of- ten slaves') muscles, to ani- mal energy (first oxen, then horses), to burning wood and peat as stores of sunlight, to energy from water and wind, to, at last, fossil fuels. Sus- tained economic growth, a necessary prerequisite for scientific and technologi- cal dynamism, became possi- ble, Ridley writes, when hu- manity was able to rely on "non-renewable, non-green, non-clean power." Because "there appeared from under- ground a near-magical sub- stance," Britain's landscape was spared: "Coal gave Brit- ain fuel equivalent to the out- put of 15 million extra acres of forest to burn, an area nearly the size of Scotland. By 1870, the burning of coal in Britain was generating as many calories as would have been expended by 850 mil- lion laborers. ... The capac- ity of the country's steam en- gines alone was equivalent to 6 million horses or 40 mil- lion men." And cheap coal produced the iron for new labor-saving machines. The environmen- tal toll from burning coal (it emits carbon dioxide, radio- activity and mercury) has been slight relative to the en- vironmental and other bless- ings from burning it. In May 1945, Aneurin Be- van, a leading light among British socialists, said: "This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time." Genius was not required. So- cialism — command-and-con- trol government of the sort that climate fine-tuners rec- ommend for the entire planet — soon accomplished this marvel, with coal rationed and the price of fish soaring. GeorgeWill'semailaddress is georgewill@washpost.com. George Will Another false 'turning point' on climate Cartoonist's take The column "God Talk" in the Daily News is always fodder for the skeptical. Last Saturday the author, J. Wilson, wrote of his lead- ing a prayer walk around Lake Bur- ley Griffin in Aus- tralia. James then "blessed, forgave and celebrated the Lord's Sup- per on the land." Then, to conclude his minis- trations he wrote, "We poured anointing oil into the water. It immediately assumed the clear shape of a dragon—interesting enough—and in about sixty sec- onds the oil had transformed its shape into that of a butterfly." As such apparitions may be in the eye of the beholder, I am re- minded of an endearing series of Peanuts cartoon panels. Linus and Charlie Brown are lying on their backs in a field and observ- ing the cloud formations above. Linus says it reminds him of the Battle of Thermopylae, whereas Charlie says it reminds him of a horsey and a doggy. So you see how James Wilson might inter- pret oil in the water to support his own particular agenda. ••• The police log last week stated that a woman reported her hus- band had been sprayed with bear mace. However, when po- lice arrived, the victim was un- cooperative. I find that understandable, his being uncooperative and all. Be- ing sprayed with bear mace is not a subject requiring further discussion. One accepts it for what it is…and moves along. ••• The DN carried a front page article about Demetra Jones, this year's recipient of the Doris Fos- ter Memorial Award. I was not aware of this award but appar- ently it is presented in memory of Doris who "had a heart for helping women and children in the community and was a strong supporter of Alternatives to Vi- olence," or so said Executive Di- rector Jeanne Spurr. But I do re- call Doris. She was a beautiful and intel- ligent woman and I was fortu- nate to have acted as property manager for her and her hus- band Jack's properties in Red Bluff for a number of years. After their passing, I continue to man- age same for her step daughters Lona and Judith in the bay area. Which brings us to my point: The daughters now own the for- mer Post Office Annex on Wash- ington near City Hall, and it is available for lease. ••• A pithy observation from an unknown source: "Life is inher- itably disruptive. You just have to adapt." ••• In a TIME interview golfer Ti- ger Woods described his daily routine while recovering from his third back surgery. "I walk 10 minutes on the beach. That's it. Then I come home and lie back down on the couch or a bed." When asked "Are you say- ing that if it does all end because of your injuries, you're OK?" He responded, "If it does, it does. It's more important for me to be with my kids." In the interview Tiger men- tions "my kids" seven times. I don't doubt his sincerity when he proclaims his love for them, but his remarks, to the skeptical, could come across as scripted. Well, one thing is for sure: He had a great ride for many years as the world's top golfer with all the perks that came with the ti- tle, and was the envy of many golfers…and non-golfers as well. ••• In my day, the southeast cor- ner of Main and Oak featured the Associated Flying A Service Station, Durwood Lakin, pro- prietor. Durwood had a thick built-up sole on one boot to com- pensate for either a short leg or a club foot. Whatever, it never slowed him down. Next to him to the south was the Better Buy Market owned by the Poore brothers. Years later it was the site of dry cleaners and most re- cently the C. Winning Medical building. Clarence was a good physician, a good tennis player and a developer of multi housing developments along with partner Carl Grondona, an optometrist. Some projects were successful and some were not. Such is the nature of developments. Any- how, I see that Clarence's build- ing is either coming down or be- ing renovated for the Northstate Eye clinic. ••• That we are slaves to our tech- nology was ably demonstrated at the start of this work week when our office phones and computers were down…kaput. We learned that storm had damaged or dis- rupted cables or something, and they — the owners of the service — were frantically working to correct the situation. There was a moment of hope when I discovered that across the street, the formidable Cold- well Banker Real Estate office had no computer service, but they did have phone service. In calling their Redding office, they discovered Redding was not af- fected by the storm and func- tioning properly. As I was ex- pecting to hear from an L.A. agent on a big deal, I knew he would be puzzled when he tried to call or e-mail and received no answer. Anyhow, Coldwell made contact with the fellow, told him reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated, and they could relay information to me if and when it was forth coming. As you know, service was eventually restored. But when the lines were down, I was down for the count, business-wise, and down time can be costly in this rapid age of the Internet. ••• Who says men don't remem- ber? A couple were Christ- mas shopping. The shopping center was packed, and as the wife walked through one of the malls she was surprised when she looked around to find that her husband was nowhere to be seen. She was quite upset be- cause they had a lot to do. She became so worried that she called him on her mobile phone to ask him where he was. In a quiet voice he said, "Do you re- member the jewelers we went into about five years ago where you fell in love with that dia- mond necklace that we couldn't afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day?" The wife choked up and started to cry and said, "Yes, I do remember that shop." He replied, "Well, I'm in the pub next door." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@ hotmail.com. I Say Skeptical of weekly religious feature Sustained economic growth, a necessary prerequisite for scientific and technological dynamism, became possible, Ridley writes, when humanity was able to rely on "non- renewable, non-green, non-clean power." George Will StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558- 3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials Robert Minch A pithy observation from an unknown source: "Life is inheritably disruptive. You just have to adapt." OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, December 18, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6