Dark Days

As I walk underneath brilliant blue skies and gentle fragrant breezes in one of the few local parks still open to the public, I can’t help but feel the wheels are coming off.

- Governor Patterson, in an attempt to strong-arm the State Legislature to pass a budget, has ordered closed 55 state parks including Joseph Davis Park in Lewiston, Woodlawn Park in Hamburg, and the lovely Knox Farms in East Aurora. The Legislature pushed a plan to keep the parks open, but Patterson is using the parks among his pressure on lawmakers to settle the budget dispute. How about they don’t draw any pay until it’s settled? Why punish everyone else but them?

- Oil continues to flood into the gulf of Mexico. BP’s efforts seem designed less to plug the leak than to capture the spilled oil, and aren’t nearly on the level they need to be considering the catastrophic nature of this disaster. It is now spreading to the Loop current within the gulf, which will send it swirling from the Yucatan to southern Florida, Western Bahamas and back.

- A recent study shows that the average American child is getting a worse education these days thanks to our struggling public school systems. While they are ranked 25^th out of 35 developed countries in quality of education, this hasn’t stopped their self-assuredness – the same study showed their confidence in their substandard learning far surpassed that of their non-US counterparts.

- A new landmark protection act was signed in Canada “preserving” their forests from unsustainable logging activity. This is great news, don’t get me wrong. While there is room for interpretation on what determines sustainable logging activity, Greenpeace put their stamp of approval on it, so until I can do better research I will defer to their judgement. The one snippet that chilled my blood from the BBC coverage was “The total protected area is about twice the size of Germany, and equals the area of forest lost globally between 1990 and 2005” So that means just in 15 years, we’ve clear cut forests totalling twice the size of Germany from the planet.

- Meanwhile, an incredibly inventive way to allow companies to buy carbon credits by investing in tropical rainforest preserves seems doomed to die in Congress. Unfortunate because it’s a no brainer to me. Why, you might ask, do I feel that companies should pay? Because they are emitting carbon!! Well, you say, what when they must pass these expenses onto the consumers? So be it! We all need to do our part. The only other missing ingredient is embargoes on timber coming from countries that don’t practice sustainable forestry methods, enforced by all member nations of the UN. If we don’t buy, they won’t waste time and energy cutting it down.

- Starbucks cups claim to be made from 10% recycled material. Why not 100%? Here’s the quote from the cup “While that may not seem like a lot to you, this actually saves 100,000 trees from being cut down every year” – so we’re cutting 900,000 trees per year just to cover the other 90% that isn’t recycled, just for Starbucks cups? What about adding Tim Horton’s, Dunkin Donuts, Caribou Coffee and Seattle’s Best? You’re right, it doesn’t seem like a lot to me. I suppose it’s better than nothing, but let’s not celebrate such meager attempts.

- Asians are trading in their healthy rice and vegetable diets for red meat rich Western-style diets. And this report has the audacity to refer to such changes as “dietary advances”. Ironically, forward thinking Westerners are dropping red meat from their diets in favor of heart-healthy, leaner foods like whole grain rice based on statistical data showing that in the Asian countries where it is a prevalent dietary staple, the folks are living longer! Let’s also not forget that more cattle means more consumption, more methane emissions and of course more trips to the emergency room for these soon to be plump, artery-clogged people.

Someone give me some good news.