There are lumberjacks out there who can point to the endangered species act as a key (or the only) factor for their paycheck drying up. So, seeing this graphic on the side of a big 18-wheeler is really no surprise.But this one made me giggle. Stacked on the back of this flatbed was about two dozen picnic tables made of recycled plastic -- they were stamped with the Stanford logo, too, so the students who sit at these tables will likely go on to set policy that will, gasp, debate the passage of yet more environmental laws.
I guess parting thought: why the imbalance to the solution? Sure, we need diversity in ecological systems. And the endangered species act is a tool for that. But when you add the spotted owl, you also eliminate some families' jobs. Why not couple the enforcement of those environmental laws with economic programs that are designed to lessen the blow for those families? (I know of some programs that do this, but it is usually as stopgap, not a systemic solution). Things like new educational opportunities, new job options, retraining, etc. More options are out there. The goal is to have truckers like this one realize that it was environmental laws that encouraged the development of recycled plastic picnic tables, the hauling of which is feeding his family this week...
1 comment:
It seems to me that the main obstacle to change is skepticism about whether new jobs are out there, even after retraining. The reason politicians are always promising to create jobs is that there are parts of the country where jobs are almost always scarce, and little changes despite those promises, so people hang onto what they have for as long as they can.
A country where people were confident about finding new work would be a different place.
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