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Hi Rick & All,
I am baffled by the notion that discussion might not be useful.=20
No doubt it is not possible to flick a switch and correct such =
problems. But why avoid discussion ?=20
One rather large hydra has as usual many heads but only one body; a =
civil service which has become threadbare as a result of attrition and, =
in some cases, never furnished with the necessary resources to do the =
mandated job in the first place; a large number of electric motors with =
the copper windings removed and sold for scrap. =20
Battles are now lost on a regular basis all for the want of a =
horseshoe nail and/or an ounce of common sense and the updating of =
regulations that have long since passed their best before date.
Amherst, due to public pressure, turned down $500,000 for disposal =
of fracking water after being purified to drinking water standards. Why =
? Largely because the public is rightly skeptical of industry =
assurances. Without government funded science, which is absolutely free =
of any pressure and consequently able to act as a reliable way to =
confirm or reject assurances by industry one can expect mob rule, =
informed by misinformation, to become commonplace. And this can only =
lead to economically destructive decisions.
In any case, a back of envelope calculation showed the potential =
dilution to be astronomical so there should never have been a fuss. But =
when democracy is used to establish the value of pi then 21 people who =
prefer 3 will beat 20 who say it is about 3.14159.
The same considerations apply to the Alton gas storage project now =
stalled, partly because there is a concern about adding Sodium to the =
ocean. Huh ?? If the company were to release their water, following the =
schedule which they propose, I really don't understand how there could =
be a problem. If done by instant feedback, mixing and release or =
shutdown could be automated. Once again, objective oversight by =
government funded science would avoid these foolish and destructive =
shouting matches.=20
About 10 years ago someone on the South Shore developed a way to =
trap and use a truly invasive species of crab (Green crab I think and =
used for Lobster bait) .He was fined for fishing Green Crabs without a =
licence and lost his means of earning a living when he should have been =
given some reward. But by the same agency he was denied a licence =
because it was not an established fishery so they could not issue one. A =
trace of common sense in the enforcement of regulations would =
predictably lead to better outcomes.
Some years ago the fur industry sleep walked into a Phosphate =
pollution problem. This could never have happened if anyone involved in =
advising this industry had known the first thing about the behavior of =
Phosphate in soil and in waterways. After more than a decade I am not =
sure that the "problem" has yet been solved. There is no substitute for =
direct access to lab resources as opposed to reading the 'how to do it' =
guide, often written by someone who has never done it. The only really =
reliable teacher is ground truth.
And, finally, on a personal level, a sad story of a stalled =
transaction which shows how we are heading. When I bought a woodlot in =
1971 the widow who was selling it had never seen it so I had to make a =
few phone calls one evening to find someone who could tell me how to =
find it, I searched the title back 100 years and this took about an hour =
plus a nominal fee. She arranged for someone to walk the lines with me =
and within a week I had the deed, registered for a nominal fee, and she =
had her money.=20
I received and accepted an offer to sell that lot on Aug 7 of this =
year. The buyer had cash set aside and was ready to fork it over. But it =
is still stalled in Migration. And cost of migration will likely exceed =
the initial cost by a wide margin. The familiar problem; set up a =
gold-plated system, provide inadequate resources to administer it and =
let the public be dammed.
Shortly after I bought the North Alton woodlot in 1981 I checked the =
ownership of one adjacent lot on an orthophoto map at some county =
planning office and noticed that my lot had the name of someone who had =
never owned it. When I asked to have the name corrected I was told that =
they could not correct it because funds for that program had been cut =
and not to worry because their maps don't mean anything anyway. =20
End of rant for now.
DW
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey" Oliver Goldsmith
=20
=20
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Rick Whitman=20
To: naturens=20
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2014 7:16 AM
Subject: [NatureNS] Canada's position on at-risk species =
'unprecedented'
=
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1256985-canada's-position-on-at-r=
isk-species-'unprecedented'
Perhaps this should just be read on its own merit. You may draw your =
own conclusions. Discussion here might not be useful.
Best,
Rick Whitman
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12/10/14
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<DIV>Hi Rick & All,</DIV>
<DIV> I am baffled by the notion that discussion might =
not be=20
useful. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> No doubt it is not possible to flick a switch =
and=20
correct such problems. But why avoid discussion ? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> One rather large hydra has as usual =
many heads=20
but only one body; a civil service which has become threadbare as a =
result=20
of attrition and, in some cases, never furnished with the necessary =
resources to=20
do the mandated job in the first place; a large number of electric =
motors with=20
the copper windings removed and sold for scrap. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Battles are now lost on a regular =
basis all=20
for the want of a horseshoe nail and/or an ounce of common sense and the =
updating of regulations that have long since passed their best before=20
date.</DIV>
<DIV>&nb