Dear Editor,
Mark Twain wrote, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.” Another wag said, “Figures don’t lie but liars can figure.” Joseph Goebbles said, “If you tell a big enough lie, people will believe you.” All this comes to mind as I look at the vicious mailers (two from the Sierra Club political committee, two from the League of Conservation Voters, and one from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund) attacking Richard Pombo. They are a tribute to his becoming chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
Dennis Hastert early recognized Pombo’s work ethic and common sense; he paid him the highest of compliments when he said, “Richard Pombo says what he means and means what he says.”
These special interest groups injected themselves in the campaign; let’s debate issues instead of mudslinging.
Michael Crichton wrote that “Environmentalism is a religion” — based more on emotion than hard science. Al Gore is whipping up panic over global warming; he’s no scientist. Skeptic Roger Pielke, Sr., from the University of Colorado says, “There isn’t enough diversity in the debate. A few vocal individuals are quoted ‘over and over’ again, when in fact there are a variety of opinions.”
The media have warned about impending climate doom four different times in the last 100 years. Only they can’t decide if mankind will die from warming or cooling. In 1975 a Newsweek article heralded a coming ice age.
A July 1, 2005 Wall Street Journal editorial wrote that the 1973 Endangered Species Act is a law with better intentions than results. “So kudos to Representative Richard Pombo, who ordered a comprehensive review of the law from the House Resources Committee, which he chairs. Mr. Pombo has long argued that the species act is broken in a way that not only renders it incapable of conserving plants and animals but also puts unnecessary burdens on private landowners. It turns out he was right….Mr. Pombo has been trying to get species act reform rolling in the House, but Democrats don’t want to amend a law that gives so much power to their green-lobby benefactors.”
Phyllis Roche, Lodi
