A Common Man’s Thoughts on Climate Change
“Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable. ”
By Jim Mundorf
I am not a Scientist. I’m not going to pretend to be one, and I don’t think I am smarter than those who are. Me having a strong opinion on the subject makes as much sense as a climate scientist having a strong opinion on how to work cattle. I have never studied the research and probably wouldn’t understand it if I did. All I have to go on is 39 years of walking around as a live human being, free on the earth. So here it is, my opinion when it comes to man made climate change, is this: I don't know.
Apocalypse Now
When I was a senior in high school we had a science teacher that liked to show films while he sat at his desk and did, whatever they do at their desks. He must've been running short on films and had to go into the archives, cause he fired one up that seemed to be a little older. The start of the film is something I’ve always remembered. It was an apocalyptic scene, and the narrator stated that if something drastic wasn't done about pollution by the year 2000, life as we know it would cease to exist. The reason this was so memorable is because of the year I saw it. It was 1998. As far as I knew nothing drastic had been done, but it sure didn't feel like the world was going to end in the next couple years. To me this could mean only one thing about this scientific film that was based on all sorts of fancy research and study...it was bullshit.
Occasionally my memory fails me so I did some checking and according to this AP News story from June 29 1989, "A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000...He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect before it goes beyond human control." Pretty scary stuff if the deadline hadn't past almost 20 years ago, but the warnings are all to familiar. (It should also be noted that while nothing drastic was being done, between 1993-2001, Al Gore was Vice President.)
I don't remember learning much in high school but I remember that film. The reason I am able to remember it so well is because I have been reminded of it every couple weeks since. For the past 20 years, when I hear the most recent catastrophic environmental predictions I am reminded of the film and I laugh a little, (not out loud, just to myself, LTM if you will) knowing that it is all BS. It didn't start in high school either. Remember acid rain? Whatever happened with that? Back in elementary I figured we'd all be carrying acid proof umbrellas by now. That's the problem with environmental predictions, if they are always wrong, they lose their luster after a while. And for my 39 years they have always been wrong.
The War on Cattle
Up until now its been easy for me to blow off the climate fear as the alarmists throw their skirts over their heads and run for the hills. They have had little affect on my life, so why should I care? But now they have come for something I care deeply about, cattle. Now I hate them.
The war started the same place that the year 2000 prediction was made, the United Nations. In 2006, six years after the world was supposed to end, some moron/expert said that, “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.” Just like their apocalyptic predictions this statement was clear and obvious bullshit, but the animal rights nuts saw their chance and ran with it. They have done a hell of a job pounding this idea into minds of Americans, to the point where it now just seems accepted that livestock are destroying the environment.
My family raises cattle. I have watched them graze through green pastures my entire life. Just like the buffalo did before them. Like the buffalo they are a natural part of the environment. They do not damage it, they improve it. They are a part of it. The fact that animals are now being blamed for man made climate change is so incredibly stupid, I can not wrap my head around it. The fact that people are believing it and accepting it, and changing their diets because of it, well, I just don’t have the words. When did the environment stop being the world we live in and the land we care for? The only environment talked about now is some unseen ghost in the sky. If we believe in it enough and do everything we are told to do, then, maybe…just maybe, we will survive.
The Creation of the Anti-Environmentalist
There is one metric that is not currently measured, that truly needs to be taken into account. It is how much hatred has been created towards the environmentalist. The list of people that are blamed and vilified for destroying the world continues to grow. The coal miners, oil roughnecks, truck drivers, loggers, the list goes on and on and now you can add cattle ranchers and all livestock producers. I can’t speak for anyone but myself. The hatred inside of me for the people trying to destroy the cattle industry, grows with every new false headline I read. I wish it didn’t, but there’s no denying that it does.
There are also people who are not involved in any of those industries, but are just so tired of being lied to their whole life that they have decided, “to hell with it all, why should I care about anything environmental.” A sad result of over exaggerating peoples impacts, is that now many people don’t care about their impact at all.
It might be hard for some to believe, but there are still people out there who work very hard for very little. When these people are being told to sacrifice some of the few things that they enjoy, by people who live unbelievably extravagant lives, then who can blame them for being angry? Who can blame them for pushing back in the opposite direction?
The Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds
Another reason that a working stiff like me has decided he could care less about the climate change hysterics, is because the loudest voices telling us all the end is near, are also some of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases who live their lives caring much less than I do about their impacts. The hypocrisy of these people truly knows no bounds.
Leonardo DiCaprio-“Shifting from animal meat to the plant-based meats developed by Beyond Meat is one of the most powerful measures someone can take to reduce their impact on our climate.” Propaganda to promote the company he invests in. He happens to own 6 Homes, including an entire island in Belize, which I highly doubt that he rides a bicycle to. He flies private, and rented the worlds largest Yacht owned by an oil Tycoon.
Richard Branson- “Livestock is estimated to produce 18 per cent of all “man-made” greenhouse gas emissions. This makes it a bigger contributor to global warming and environmental degradation than all forms of transportation.” The asshole who owns Virgin Airlines has found a very convenient scapegoat to tell lies about. A damn airline owner is blaming cows for green house gases and is being taken seriously. As an investor he is all set to profit off of the laboratory created meat alternative company Memphis Meats. He owns his own luxury resort island that has to be rebuilt every couple years because of fires and hurricanes. While its under construction he flies around the world to live in his luxury hotels. Along with the airline he has his own private jet, a yacht, a submarine and pretty much anything else that seems cool and burns fuel. He is also planing on sending customers on outer space cruises with Virgin Galagtic. I’m not sure what the carbon footprint of a space ship is, but maybe the scientists worried about cattle should look into that.
Bill Gates- “Cattle are a huge source of methane; in fact, if they were a country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases!” A very convenient lie to tell while promoting his investments in both Beyond Meat and Memphis Meats. He owns 4 homes. The largest is 48,000 square feet. He also owns 4 private jets, a helicopter and a sea plane. Two of his massive estates are horse ranches. Hopefully no one tells him that horses also produce methane. Since he is such an eco-warrior he will probably take them behind the massive air conditioned barns to be shot.
The list of the super rich blaming cattle for global warming goes on and on. To most people with any brains the motivation is obvious, it is simply just to damn convenient. What if you were living in a 48,000 square foot house and flying around the world in private jets and some animal rights environmental scientist says to you, “Your lifestyle isn’t that big of deal, You can still be an environmentalist, because its the cattle that are the problem. Also here’s some companies to invest in and if you do a good job promoting them you can get even richer.” That’s got to sound pretty good. Its plain old human nature to go all in, like these assholes have. Whats more is the people being blamed for the problem. Cattle ranchers, are mostly small independent operations, located out in the middle of nowhere, with no ties to the media or Washington D.C. A very easy group for a bunch of billionaires to pin this problem on. Its all just to convenient.
To Hell With Those Tree Huggers
As I was sorting through my trash, looking for what I could recycle, I was thinking about how most people would think I am a crazy person for doing so. If you think I’m bragging about what a good person I am for recycling, I assure you I am not. Most people that I know are more likely to make fun of me for pointlessly recycling like some tree hugger, than they are to give me a pat on the back. And that is exactly my point. What the over zealous environmentalist has done is create a whole lot of people that, when presented with the idea of any sort of environmental solution, their first thought is, “To hell with those tree huggers.” Even if the idea makes sense and will help their community. Which of course is another problem, the media. Why would anyone report on how much land is being taken over by landfills, when there is a billionaire airline owner that wants to blame cow gas for global warming while promoting his investments.
““A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.””
Where’s the Wolf?
I’m not denying the climate is changing. I’ve been told there were once glaciers where I am sitting. I’m not denying that humans have an affect on the climate. What I am saying is, I don’t know. What I do know is that for 30 of my 39 years on earth, climate “scientists” have been saying we have 10 years left.
I don't think most people understand climate change as much as they pretend to, whether they believe in it or not. What most people, over the age of four do understand, is the story of the boy who cried wolf. The environmentalist have been crying wolf, so loudly for so long that fewer and fewer people are listening. To the point that if someone told me that any sort of environmental disaster is looming, I would laugh right in their face. So if a man made environmental disaster does come, if the wolf does show up, whose fault will that be?
Jim Mundorf- Owns the Drover House. He also works on his families farm and cattle ranch in Iowa.
