Eco-Craziness

The liberal left has to have a cause. Back in the sixties, they discovered that to have a cause was to identify with some kind of group and perhaps become more important in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't the cause that was important so much as the effort to become immortal or somehow make a lasting impact on the universe that was the goal. For instance, the Sixties Boomers joined anti-war groups, love-ins, sit-ins, draft card burnings, etc. Many of them did all these things just in an effort to belong to some group rather than as a true statement of conviction.

In the seventies, the environment issue first arose and I will admit, we needed to start paying attention. I remember when chucking your hamburger bag out the window was normal. Trying to hit the road sign with your glass Kick soda bottle was a sport. Some of us were pretty good at it, too. Then the "clean environment" movement came along and things like Love Canal were uncovered and suddenly we had Super Sites in our backyards that had been killing us for years without our knowledge. Something needed to be done and I'm grateful for those who had sense to do it.

Then came the cause for the homeless in the eighties. All the Hollywood names jumped on the bandwagon - help the homeless! What everyone forgot to do was ask the homeless if they wanted to be helped. Many did not. They LIKED living the lifestyle. So many were mentally ill and would not accept help regardless. The help the homeless movement got a toe-hold and then faded away among the liberal left as "glamorous" or "fashionable" and the faith-based community picked up the cause and have done wonders with it.

"We are the World" also came about in the eighties in an effort to feed the starving of Africa. As far as I know, the people in Africa are still starving despite all the millions and billions raised for their assistance. Again, it was the faith-based organizations that are still there teaching farming, dealing with the war-torn, and actually helping these people, even on a small scale.

Now, the trendy "cause" is global warming. You are not "in" in the liberal world if you are not paying carbon offsets and griping about carbon dioxide levels as you ride to your 20,000 square foot mansion in your 5 mpg limo after getting off your private jet. These people gripe about cow farts and how the methane is causing the polar ice caps to melt. (Obviously, these people have never been around my brother who can put out more methane than a whole herd of Holsteins. It's an art form with him.)

And as a country girl, I suspect most of them have never even been around cows. Let's face it people, cows smell bad. Their poop smells bad. However, it makes great fertilizer (my God, a natural USE for cow poop! Who-da thunk it!) It makes tomatoes grow and corn and all those "natural, organic" foods the liberal left love! If you want organic food, people, you have to have cow poop. And chicken poop. And goat poop. Bat poop is supposed to be really good but it's hard to find. To have all this poop, you have to have methane! And there go the polar ice caps.

I saw a news segment on Fox and Friends about eco-friendly pets. Some dude was on there touting organic dog food and such. Did he stop to think that that organic dog food has to get to the consumer via big rig truck? Putting out lots of diesel fumes and (gasp) carbon dioxide? What an idiot. I think he was just a savvy marketing consultant (he even had a dog in a cape as a hype point) being paid by the organic dog food company to push their products.

You want an eco-friendly pet? I offer you mine. They poop outside which fertilizes the grass of my orchard. I feed them leftovers from my table so I don't buy dog food that has to be shipped in from somewhere. Concerning my leftovers: I get my beef from my neighbor down the road who has a herd of Black Angus. I get eggs from my neighbor across the street who has a flock of chickens. The horse farm across the way is an endless supply of manure for fertilizer (boy you should be here when they spread it on the hay fields - Phew!) I can buy vegetables from farmers in any direction I go and cheaper than at the store.

Now how is my carbon footprint so far? Oh, I guess I should mention the negatives. I drive a Denali SUV that sucks gas. To balance it out, I also drive a Honda Civic that sips gas. I have an empty pasture and barn that I've been thinking of populating with a couple of shire horses so I can hitch up the Honda to them and ride to town without using ANY gas. But then we have the methane issue again and WOOPS there go the polar ice caps.