Our Natural Resources

I want to tell you right up front, this is not going to be a photography post. So if you do not want to hear me on a soap box, I suggest you come back tomorrow. Thanks.

Yesterday when we were approaching Las Vegas we were being vectored over Lake Mead the was something that struck me. This largest of man made lakes in the world based on shoreline is approaching a low that it has not been at in 45 years.

 

The following three images are of a boat landing at the west end of Lake Mead. The level of the lake is some 60 feet below that of its high. The first image shows the current condition.

The second shows a zoomed in view of the boat launch ramp. Notice how the concrete ramp does not even go to the waters edge.  

Finally the third image is a rough estimate of where the normal lake level would be. It is quite impressive.

There are some that are predicting the lake will completely dry up by 2021. Of course this prediction is based on the science of climate change which is the new politically correct term for global warming. Wether the climatologists are correct or not, this subject is being exploited for personal gain on way too many fronts in this country You see, the environmental extremists realized that "global warming" was a hot bed of controversy so what better way to divert the American psyche than to make a name change. After all, climate change is much softer than global warming.

Am I totally blowing off global warming? Not at all... Our environment much like all other aspect of God's creation functions in cycles. So the global average temperature has increased 0.75 degrees between 1905 to 2005. I hardly believe this is enough to warrant the current hysteria that is consuming many Americans these days. Sorry but I am a glass is half full kind of guy and the sky is not falling. Is it something that we should be aware of? Yes, but to create knee-jerk reactions that ends up consuming more energy in the long run is lunacy.

I believe we as unique beings, differentiated from the animals by creation and not evolution, have the responsibility to oversee and not abuse our natural resources. We have been placed above the animals on this earth and they are here for our good pleasure. This includes, hunting, eating, making captive for our entertainment the wild beasts that roam the earth. They are not above mankind and should not be put before man or the progress of mankind. What I am saying here s it is wrong do stymie human progress to save a specific animal. Endangered or not!

When an omniscient God created this rock we abide on, did he not create it with enough energy resources to maintain it until He as creator choses it's demise. This does not mean we can abuse it with reckless abandon. If there is a better, more efficient way without causing a massive economic impact, by all means we should persue that line of thinking.

So what is Doug's energy policy? Here it is in no particular order.

1. Pursue on a much more aggressive tack, a new form of energy for automotive.
   
2. Relax EPA guidelines for additional oil drilling and exploration in the U.S. and the northern hemisphere.
   
3. Provide incentives for additional oil refineries in the U.S.
   
4. The cost of liberating Iraq must be offset with something. We have not spent billions on maintaining a freer Iraq for nothing. A portion of oil coming out of the ground in Iraq should come towards the U.S. at no cost until there is an equilibrium between our costs to defend the Iraqi people and that of the cost of the oil.
   

Next time it is back to photo blogging... I promise.

Doug