When I was in my 20s I reflected on the fact that our environment was getting better, not worse, and that the world’s environment had not gone to hell in a handbasket within the timeframe that was predicted years ago. I realized what I had been told was a lie.

What bugs me is anytime I or someone else comes out saying that things are not as bad as some believe on this front, people like me get accused of endorsing further pollution and increasing our waste. Quite the opposite. I love efficiency, especially when it’s affordable. To me, waste is a measure of efficiency. If you’re producing a lot of it, you’re doing something that’s inefficient, and you’re losing out on value. I recycle, and take walks when I can instead of using the car. Some waste is unavoidable. Look at our own bodies. We produce waste in a few ways that I won’t go into. :) When it comes to our machinery and processes it can be a positive exercise to try and figure out how to reduce the wastefulness of it. You can learn a lot.

There are times when our society as a whole gets worried and depressed. It’s during these times when we have a tendency to believe all sorts of scary stories. The 1970s was such a time, and it appears to me we’ve been going through a time like that again during this decade.

Michael Crichton said on Charlie Rose about a month ago that people these days are given to catastrophism. He said he’s tried an experiment at cocktail parties. He’s tried making small talk by saying things like, “Things are really bad.” He noticed that others in the room gravitated towards him, agreeing passionately with this sentiment. At a different party he tried saying, “Things are actually pretty good.” He noticed quite a different response. He said people would turn away, and even get angry at him. His conclusion was people don’t want to hear that things are going well, even if it’s the truth. Hence, the catastrophic predictions of global warming theory fit right into this mentality.

I mean, let’s be real, peeps.

we need allot more teachers like you.

Some of these pictures are really funny like “Zonal Zack”. He looks like he was at a weekend rave and had too much ectasy.

I drew a neat one about the “Smog Monster” from Godzilla.

That year there was an entire science fair project category about pollution and other made up scare stuff.

I forgot about that nonsense just as quickly.

Even at that age, I thought that if everyone would just switch to nuclear power the smoggy stuff would go away.

Then Jimmy Carter came along and decided to junk nuclear energy and make trillionaires out of terrorists. But I digress.

In all, this was a stupid exercise by a bunch of whiny idealistic government teachers and will by and large be forgotten by the brighter students while the duller ones will continue on in their indoctrination.

By the way, when my 12 year old asks about this sort of thing, I make it a point to talk to him about it. Without prompting from me, he thinks it’s bunk too.

I remember in Junior High School videos about how the world population was out of control and billions were going to die unless the WE have less children.

There was another one about the growing wealth disparity and it showed cartoon characters that used machine guns to defend their property-like in Omega Man.

It seems he understands now, but it drives me nuts that I must constantly refute what is taught in school. I don’t mind helping with the math and the spelling, that is my job as a parent, but when I have to teach simple scientific method so that my sons understand that human causation is over hyped, well, I find that to be a failure on the part of the education system.

No, I am not just whining about it either, I get out there and let others know, I get myself published in the local papers, and I am vocal at the school board, involvement is the only way to effect change.