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Show piniom Sun Advocate Stop 8 Thursday, December 13, 1090 TDCU-- eco-mania- cs THt CTKTfc UEtUS By DR. RICHARD L. LESHER President U.S. Chamber of Commerce Upwards of 100,000 jobs dependent upon the forest industry in the Pacific Northwest may be lost because certain environmental extremists are determined to obstruct economic growth using any means at their disposal. Their weapon of choice, as usual, is the Endanclaim the gered Species Act. The northern spotted owl is in danger and must be protected, even at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. Of course, the real issue is not the spotted owl, any more than the snail darter was the issue when tried to block operation of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee. The real issue is the radical who perceive humanity as agenda of an unwelcome intruder on this planet. Hardly a week passes without more lawsuits under the Endangered Species Act to block economic development somewhere. But the law was never intended to regulate land use planning and thus includes no consideration of human needs, economic or otherwise. Indeed, the law errs on the side of animals to the point that different colonies of the same kind of animal are often classified as separate species. It is as if the Hatfields and McCoys inhabiting adjacent mountains were identified as separate species. It makes no eco-mania- cs eco-mania- cs eco-mania- cs sense whatsoever.' The Endangered Species Act likewise is afflicted with equally erroneous assumptions that extinction-oany species is a disaster and that mankind is invariably the culprit. But thousands of species became extinct long before human beings appeared on the cene, and others continue to disappear without human assistance. For example, the Mount Graham red squirrel, whose depleted ranks were cited as reason to block construction of telescopes in Colorado, is succumbing to its natural predator the goshawk. claim that our Also, the forest is disappearing is more propaganda. There are over 7.5 million acres of virgin forest on federal lands in Washington and Oregon, and more than 4.2 million acres already are preserved from harvest. The Endangered Species Act is up for reauthorization in 1992, affording Congress an opportunity to infuse some badly needed common sense into the law. Basically, we need to recognize that human beings are a viable species whose well- being is equally important to that of other gpecies. on People, plants and animals can spaceship earth. But the time has come to reign in the and put a stop to their abuse of what was once regarded as a reasonable and eco-mania- old-grow- cs old-grow- ' f Anything under the sun th If there is a hectic time of year to work at a newspaper, it is during December. Thanks to our advertisers, we have a bit more space to fill and there are more community happenings that require coverage. At the same time, we are preparing an energy edition to publish in January, as well as scouring the past years papers for contest entries. - co-exi- st eco-mania- cs necessary law. A tool for protection By MARK LIDDIARD Guest columnist The Endangered Species Act is not a weapon of It is a tool put in choice by to place protect animals and plants and their habitat from destruction by the unchecked growth and expanse of the human population. As the population expands and the need for more oil, lumber and land becomes necessary, the space for wildlife and its habitat is becoming less and less. The Endangerd Species Act does not take the stance that humans are an unwelcome intruder on the planet. Humans are the ones that put this act into place. It was passed by Congress so, obviously, it had strong support and backing. Humans are the most advanced animal on this planet. If left to go unchecked at this time, they would devour, destroy and cut down everything in their path cut it down, bulldoze it and pave it. Worry about the damage to the environment later. Humans should be able to and want to with their surroundings. We lose many species of plants and animals every year. We have lost thousands in the past. A great deal of the loss cant be attributed to natural selection and changes in the climate of the earth. As of late, man is the cause for the elimination of hundreds of species of animals and plants. A burning issue at present is the forein st Washington and Oregon, home of the spotted owl. At one time, the forest covered mil- lions of acres of northern California, Washington and Oregon. What is left is 7.5 million acres. Four million of this is preserved from and one-hal- f harvest. , Now the forest industry wants to harvest the remaining three million acres. The term used by the forest industry, harvest," is very misleading. It trees will be back next implies that the for Once they are gone, they will year cutting again. not be back. The philosophy of "growth and expansion" that was used in the 40s through the early 80s is out of date. We must preserve and protect what we have, left. Growth for the sake of growth is the same ideology as that of a cancer cell. The Endangered Species Act is still a reasonable and necessary tool that needs to be used to protect what is left. so-call- - we make it through December If th Like everyone else, people on staff have Christmas shopping to do, trees and homes to decorate, baking and candymaking, childrens plays and performances to attend and a number of invitations to parties. It all results in some harried, bleary-eye- d people running around, hoping December will soon be over. Kind of reminds me of the country song, If we make it through December, everythings gonna be all right, I know. The composer . must have put in a stint at the Sun Advocate at some time in his life. I dont mean to hate December, he sings. But Ive decided its a pretty good month to hate. Monday was almost the last straw, however. Having been up later than usual putting up the Christmas tree and making cookies, the kids went to bed Sunday without turning: on their, alarms. . I . ' find mine. ' couldnt ev' We were doing pretty well, however. Aleesa didnt even miss the bus. As I was running out the door breathing a sigh of relief, the Christmas tree tipped over. I set it back in place and ran to the garage, where Eric was trying to beat ice out of the dog dish so he could feed and water. He broke the dish. When I finally got in the car and headed out of town, I noticed I was out of gasoline. So I had to dig into the treasury (which is getting a little low this month) and fill the car. At long last, I was on my way to work. , At about the Four-Mil- e Hill, I glanced in the rear-viemirror and discovered I had I knew forgotten to put on my make-uthe world wasnt ready for that, even in the season of peace on earth and good will toward men. 'I got to the office, dropped.off indispensible materials, threw Layne a roll of film and ran to the store to buy the necessary adornments to make it through w p. ran, the day. I vowed slow down then, life was going to have to if I was going to maintain sani- ty. Unfortunately, life is moving into high speed today. The computer is down, and this were not sure youll be reading ' ' tomorrow. Ah well, If we make it through December... "eco-maniac- s. ed Mike royko Saddam isnt ready for Hall of Fame Let me ask you, said Slats Grobnik, would you say that Adolf Hitler was a superstar? What are you , talking about? The man was vile, a monster, one of the most evil creatures in history. Sure, I know that. But I mean that as far as real rotten guys go, he was one of the really super rotten ones. Put that way, then the answer is yeS. Some historians will cast a ballot for Stalin and some for Mao, since both were remorseless mass murderers. But Im sure that if a vote were taken, Hitler would rank as historys co-exi- st old-grow- old-grow- old-grow- th all-tim- th top-rate- th ! ' d e, superstar monster. Why do you ask? Because I dont understand why President Bush keeps comparing this Saddam character with Hitler. He did it right from the start of this trouble out in camel territory. And last week he said that in some ways this Saddam might be worse than Hitler." I suppose he wants us to know that if we must go to war it is because we are confronting a terrible tyrant, a genuine menace to freedom, democracy and a cheap fillup. Yeah, but what about standards?" What kind of standards? Paying your dues, you know? Proving yourself. lias this guy Saddam paid his dues? Has he proved himself? Does he really rate being up there with the superstars of scum? I know Hitler had a mustache and Saddam has a mustache, but what else? Well, he did engage in a long bloody war with Iran during which hundreds of thousands of people died on both sides. And he used poison gas, which has long been frowned on. Right. But I dont recall Bush saying he was another Hitler for doing that. Bush didnt start badmouthing this guy until he took over all those palaces in Kuwait. Thats when he said he was another Hitler. Well, it was a shocking example of naked aggression. But was the aggression as naked as Hitlers tanks rolling over Poland and France? Taking over Czechoslovakia and Norway? No, but remember, those countries dont have as much oil as Kuwait. Forget the oil. Hitler was a loony tune but when it came to naked aggression, he was a high roller. Has this Saddam done 'anything like bombing ed London? Nothing on that grand a scale, no. And has he done anything like sending an army all the way into Russia so that he almost got into Moscow and would have made it if they had invented the snowmobile? No, Saddam hasnt been that ambitious. And what about submarines and battleships? Has he had them prowling around the oceans, blowing his enemies ships out of the water the way Hitler did? Of course not. Saddam has been more of a sort of tyrant And I aint even mentioned the Holocaust against the Jews, the Slavs, the Gypsies and everybody else he thought d was bugs. Has Saddam done anything like . stay-at-ho- two-legge- that? , Only on a smaller scale and not as systematically. Thats what I mean. Its all hype. Somebody hits 30 home runs, hes a superstar. One gold record and some guy with adenoids is a superstar. One movie with a lot of exploding cars and some mumble-mout- h actor is a superstar. And now Bush is trying to tell us that this Saddam is one of the all-tilow-lif- superstars. e There just aint any real standards no more." Well, you cant expect the president to say that Saddam is just a run-of-the-m- y tyrant so we must send over a huge military force to contain him. garden-variet- Why not? Because there would be little public enthusiasm. If were going to have a war, we e must have a villain to hate. Remember, Dirty Harry never shot purse snatchers or shoplifters. As the old saying goes: The eagle does not hunt flies. So if we are going to have a big war with Iraq, its because Saddam is a threat to our way of life, to all that is good, to apple pie, baseball and the free flow of lead-fre- e gas in bigger-than-lif- fire-breathi- Japan. Thats the way I figure it, too. So if Saddam is another Hitler, then that means that whoever brings him down and knocks him off will be as big as the guys who stopped Hitler." That stands to reason, I suppose. And Hitler was stopped by before we decided he was a bac guy, by Joe Stalin." Yes, they led the Alliec nations. So now we got Bush goim up against Saddam." It could come to that, yes And to think that I turnec down free tickets to see Bustei Holyfield. fiehl Evandc. |