Something To Read at the Gas Pump

In the early 1800s, as railroads spread across Britain, the Duke of Wellington supposedly sneered that trains would “only encourage the common people to move about needlessly.” Aristocrats could always move about; only when the rest of us were able to do so did this become a so-called problem. A decade ago our aristocrats looked down on SUVs; today they look down on affordable gas. Either way, their attitudes toward mobility are no different than the Duke’s views two centuries ago, and no less backward.

Who Are the Environmentalist Extremists?

Groups such as the Sierra Club, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Alliance, Green Peace and Environmental Defense Fund each started as what is generally thought of as an “environmental group.” They worked to save the planet by cleaning up pollution and encouraging outdoor activity. The Sierra Club—probably the oldest of the environmental groups—was founded in 1892. Their long history provides a good example of the environmental movement’s evolution from true naturalists to today’s environmental extremists; how a well-intentioned hiking group can evolve into a group of radical extremists—without the average members knowing the change ever took place.

There have probably always been people who don’t like America—but they became outspoken in the 1960’s. They have been subtly working behind the scenes and most of us have paid no attention. We were sleeping and our freedoms have eroded.

But how can one fly planes when the carrier deck is turned into a solar energy farm?