The Community Word

The sound was awful. After all these years I can still remember it. “Ka-CHOOK…” and suddenly there was a very damaged and very dead baby bunny. The nest had been so well concealed I had no idea I was about to run the lawnmower over it. Fortunately for the others, I was able to somewhat repair the damage… carefully putting the nest back as it was. This was the proverbial ‘unintended consequence;’ yard maintenance momentarily morphing into mayhem. We’ve all had the opportunity to cause something we didn’t foresee. Life is full of unintended consequences (some of us are living examples). Technology produces a plethora of them. A classic example is DDT. Here was a miraculous chemical that got rid of mosquitoes, lice, crop pests, etc. Who would have thought it could be implicated in bird extinctions and breast cancer? Our magic potions have a way of getting into the food chain and yielding unexpected results. Robins and red winged blackbirds, both carnivorous, can be victims of herbicide or fungicide poisoning, resulting from our attempts to green up the lawn. For their sake alone, raggy lawns are desirable.

The Navy, in testing sophisticated high powered sonar, is doing such damage to the sensitive ears of whales and dolphins, they are literally being driven onto beaches, where they die. The Natural Resources Defense Council is currently spearheading a campaign to get the military to help us protect whales and other sea life, by curtailing the use of such sonar where it can impact sea life. Go here and you can add your name to the growing list of concerned citizens:

Melting ice caps, and the deaths of Arctic wildlife, are unintended consequences of our oil, coal, and gas consumption. Intended or not, these consequences can be devastating. Only in America is human caused global warming considered controversial. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent here in an effort to discredit the science that puts the blame squarely on us. Why? The regulations that would result in an honest effort to clear the air, imply huge expense. But as everyone knows, it’s nothing, compared with the eventual expense associated with our failure to act. It may still be possible to ease human caused global warming, despite the Bush administration’s failure to lead in this vital area. The fact is, it won’t happen without the U.S. and China committed to the project. Make your opinion on this known to your Senators and Representatives.

During the Vietnam era, the military coined a word for unintended consequences, “collateral damage.” This could be casualties caused by “friendly fire,” the accidental killing of non combatants, and/or the destruction of their property. It can make the winning of hearts and minds quite difficult. In Iraq, the term ‘collateral damage’ applies to civilian casualties that occur when smart bombs aren’t so smart.

As 2007 draws to a close, there are other examples of unintended consequences of our activities, which could be thought of as collateral damage. In November, a ship “bumped” a bridge in San Francisco Bay and tore a 90 foot gash, opening its fuel tank. Tens of thousands of gallons of fuel spilled out into the bay, leading to the deaths of numerous birds. Also in November, a storm in the Black Sea resulted in the spilling of millions of gallons of oil, killing tens of thousands of sea birds and other animals. Russian officials have stated that the damage is so huge that it can hardly be evaluated. It’s been called an ecological catastrophe. They’ve estimated 30,000 dead birds, but don’t know how many other animals have been killed. It’s impossible to quantify the loss of fish. What makes it still worse is that the spill is located in the middle of a major bird migration route.

Transporting oil and fuel isn’t meant to kill off wildlife and foul beaches. But we are constantly reminded of this impending hazard. Today the battle is ongoing over reparations owed by Exxon for an oil spill resulting from the accident with the Exxon Valdez. It occurred on my daughter, Sarah’s, fifth birthday; March 24, 1989. She is now in graduate school. Hopefully these settlements can be completed before she retires from the workplace. Meanwhile, Exxon gave their retiring CEO a three hundred million dollar severance package.

Several Republicans, VP Dick Cheney in particular, continue calling for the ‘development’ of fossil ‘fuels’ from Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to help with energy independence (as well as revenue flow). Cheney goes so far as to downplay the role of conservation as not appropriate to national energy policy. Think about that for a moment. Twenty-five miles per gallon average fuel economy in the U.S. would result in an Arctic Wildlife Refuge size oil savings each year. Truth is, exploitation of that oil would only meet about 2 percent of our demand. The real goal is to exploit protected land, providing a precedent. This could actually make Yellowstone National Park an ‘exploitable’ resource, rather than a sacred piece of Americana.

Far from protecting our environment, the Bush administration’s energy plan is a testament to corporate clout. To be sure, they have no intention of harming migratory birds or marine mammals or Arctic wildlife. Then again, neither did any of the other petroleum transporters.

But there’s another unintended consequence of our enthusiastic consumption of oil. It isn’t just a “fuel” per se. It is sequestered carbon. It’s currently being held out of Earth’s atmosphere in a large pool tucked away in Earth’s crust. Burning it releases an immense amount of carbon (which has been there for millions of years) back into the atmosphere. It then contributes to global warming, which is real, and which has catastrophic potential of Biblical proportion. Imagine going to see the Statue of Liberty in glass bottom boat…

A less dangerous alternative is to use atmospheric carbon. This is what biofuels are all about. An example was explained to me by Irene Cull, a botanist many years ago at the USDA Lab. She was a proponent of raising milkweed and converting it to diesel fuel. Not sure how practical this might be, but it has several up sides. It’s a perennial and hence there’s no need for yearly plowing and planting. It takes carbon from the atmosphere and makes it available as fuel. According to Irene, milkweed is a very efficient producer of ‘stuff’ that can be used for fuel. The point is we need to invest in practical alternative energy and get over our addiction to oil, regardless of who makes, or doesn’t make profit.

There’s another problem with burning fossils for our energy needs. Producing electricity by burning coal in power plants was intended to make life easier, not to enhance mental illness among children. Evidence is beginning to show, however, that pollutants such as mercury, produced by coal-fired power plants, get into the food chain, possibly contributing to various types of autism. We seem to be caught up in a Faustian bargain where we gain convenience at an increasingly costly and harmful expense.

Ironically the term, collateral, means security. Damaging this is really our unintended consequence. Look at biodiversity as ecological infrastructure. We all know that a diverse environment is fundamental to long-term stability. When our behaviors as a society endanger various species, do we simply accept that as collateral damage and go about our business? Or do we have the wisdom, the humility, and the common sense to do the appropriate thing and take care of our broader responsibilities? In the case of DDT, we did something about it, and in the process, saved the bald eagle from certain extinction. An unintended benefit had to do with our own health.

Now we are faced with another huge challenge. The United States releases some twenty five percent of the total carbon dioxide pollution to the atmosphere. China is the next biggest polluter. Are we going to work with the United Nations and participate in such projects as the Kyoto accords? Or should we take a wait and see approach, protect our own short term profits, and try to live with the unforeseen collateral damage?