Bert Gildart: Writer and Photographer

©Bert Gildart:  At the Republican Convention this past week, Mitt Romney closed his acceptance speech by saying he intended to correct our sluggish economy by reversing a promise Obama made four years ago.  “Obama promised to lower the rising of the oceans,” said Mr. Romney, who then concluded by saying that his promise was to put money in the pockets of the struggling middle class.  Elaborating, he said he would do so by “developing our oil, gas and coal resources.”

L TO R:  Dr. Dan Fagre pointing out the almost complete recession of Grinnell Glacier in GNP; “Caribou is our Life,” say these three young ladies from Arctic Village; ravages of oil development as revealed at Prudhoe Bay, a place where caribou “have benefited,” or at least so say the developers. 

 

Helping correct our sluggish economy in a responsible way is certainly laudable, but I guess I need help understanding economics.  Virtually all scientists now say aspects of global warming are man caused, and that continued warming could have devastating results.

CURRENT DEVASTATION

We’re already starting to suffer from some of these effects.  Right now forest fires are raging in the West, the Southeast is drought stricken with corn crops suffering, pine beetle infestation is killing off our forests, several foreign countries suffered from severe floods, and people are dying from the hottest temperatures on record.

Aesthetically, the appearance of America is changing. Massive ice fields in places such as Mount Rainier and Glacier National Park have been substantially reduced, and though it is true some have melted before, never in recorded history have they done so at such an accelerated rate.  Glaciers, of course, store water, and many of these storage units are almost gone.

DEVELOPMENT IS ALTERING LIFE STYLES

Oil development will also alter life styles and perhaps none more drastically then the lives of the Gwich’in, who live adjacent to the Arctic Refuge.  And unlike many nay sayers, Janie and I have actually hiked the refuge – from top to bottom.  And look at Prudhoe Bay, a spider web of pipes, which has suffered repeatedly from oil spills.  In the past I’ve reported on all these concerns in many of our leading conservation magazines, such as National Wildlife and Christian Science Monitor.

L to R:  Unlike most detractors who have never seen the Arctic Refuge, Janie and I have hiked the entire length;  camp site during climb of Mount Rainier where ice fields have been drastically reduced; Dr. David Bristol, my  Rainier climbing partner and life-long friend.

 

Romney’s developmental mind set was discussed this past Sunday on Meet the Press, and David Gregory’s Round Table discussion included both Democrats and Republicans (Newt Gingrich).  Thomas Friedman, NY Times columnist and a Pulitzer Prize winning author, said that if  oil, gas and coal resources were tapped that it would “burn up the planet” in ways never anticipated by even Al Gore.

None of the other participants disagreed, and now I’m wondering just how we’re going to resolve the economic woes created by rising temperatures.  In the long run it seems the Romney plan will actually exacerbate our economic woes.

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*Montana’s Bear Paw Battlefiield

 

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 at 9:51 am and is filed under Alaska, National Lands, Natural History/Conservation, Photography, Uncategorized, View Point. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.