The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Time Magazine Confesses: Rush Is Right!

Posted on | July 29, 2010 | 31 Comments

You don’t see this every day:

President Obama has called the BP oil spill “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced,” and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the “Catastrophe Along the Gulf Coast,” while CBS, Fox and MSNBC slap “Disaster in the Gulf” chryons on all their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted the spill was an “environmental catastrophe.” The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill — he calls it “the leak” — is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.
Well, Rush has a point. The Deepwater explosion was an awful tragedy for the 11 workers who died on the rig, and it’s no leak; it’s the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. It’s also inflicting serious economic and psychological damage on coastal communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. But so far — while it’s important to acknowledge that the long-term potential danger is simply unknowable for an underwater event that took place just three months ago — it does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage. “The impacts have been much, much less than everyone feared,” says geochemist Jacqueline Michel, a federal contractor who is coordinating shoreline assessments in Louisiana.

The simple answer is this: The ocean is so large that even the catastrophic spill of several million gallons of oil is, by comparison, a drop in the bucket. Whatever the short-term damage done, in terms of destroyed sea life and damaged habitat, will be slowly repaired by natural processes over the course of several years.

Mother Earth is a lot more resilient than environmentalists give her credit for. I remember the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 — a horrible thing, but Santa Barbara today is as lovely a place as you’d ever want to visit and I’m not aware that there is any residual damage from that spill.

Now that Time has admitted Rush is right about the BP spill, how about some belated recognition for Undeniable Truth of Life No. 24?

Category: Environmentalism

Comments

31 Responses to “Time Magazine Confesses: Rush Is Right!”

  1. Virginia Right! News Hound for 7/29/2010 | Virginia Right!
    July 29th, 2010 @ 6:07 am

    […] Time Magazine Confesses: Rush Is Right! […]

  2. I wonder if Morning Joe that promotes the cover of Time regularly « DaTechguy's Blog
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:06 am

    […] McCain has a long memory: Mother Earth is a lot more resilient than environmentalists give her credit for. I remember the […]

  3. Mike
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:47 am

    Yea it was just a leak, only 8,000 barrels a day. No wait, 15,000. Hold it, 25,000. Wait, 50,000, etc. Tell me again who was exagerating?

  4. Mike
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:47 am

    Yea it was just a leak, only 8,000 barrels a day. No wait, 15,000. Hold it, 25,000. Wait, 50,000, etc. Tell me again who was exagerating?

  5. Mike
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:47 am

    Yea it was just a leak, only 8,000 barrels a day. No wait, 15,000. Hold it, 25,000. Wait, 50,000, etc. Tell me again who was exagerating?

  6. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:51 am

    I’m not aware that there is any residual damage from that spill.

    Correct. Here’s what I found:

    http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Protecting_ocean_life/PEG_SantaBarbaraSpill_May2010.pdf?n=1270

    Economic Impact The spill closed commercial fishing in the area from February 1969 until April 1970.15Officials reopened beaches June 1, four months after the spill.16Estimate recreational value lost was $3.15 million (in 1969 dollars).17Cleanup costs exceeded $4.5 million (in 1969 dollars).18Beachfront home, apartment, hotel and motel owners filed a class-action lawsuit andwere awarded $6.5 million (in 1969 dollars).19Commercial and recreational boat owners received $1.3 million for property damageand loss of revenue (in 1969 dollars).20Union Oil paid $9.5 million (in 1969 dollars) to the state of California, Santa BarbaraCounty and the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria for loss of property

    What say you, liberals? Once the oil is cleaned up, there really isn’t anything to carp about, is there?

  7. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:51 am

    I’m not aware that there is any residual damage from that spill.

    Correct. Here’s what I found:

    http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Protecting_ocean_life/PEG_SantaBarbaraSpill_May2010.pdf?n=1270

    Economic Impact The spill closed commercial fishing in the area from February 1969 until April 1970.15Officials reopened beaches June 1, four months after the spill.16Estimate recreational value lost was $3.15 million (in 1969 dollars).17Cleanup costs exceeded $4.5 million (in 1969 dollars).18Beachfront home, apartment, hotel and motel owners filed a class-action lawsuit andwere awarded $6.5 million (in 1969 dollars).19Commercial and recreational boat owners received $1.3 million for property damageand loss of revenue (in 1969 dollars).20Union Oil paid $9.5 million (in 1969 dollars) to the state of California, Santa BarbaraCounty and the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria for loss of property

    What say you, liberals? Once the oil is cleaned up, there really isn’t anything to carp about, is there?

  8. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:51 am

    I’m not aware that there is any residual damage from that spill.

    Correct. Here’s what I found:

    http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Fact_Sheets/Protecting_ocean_life/PEG_SantaBarbaraSpill_May2010.pdf?n=1270

    Economic Impact The spill closed commercial fishing in the area from February 1969 until April 1970.15Officials reopened beaches June 1, four months after the spill.16Estimate recreational value lost was $3.15 million (in 1969 dollars).17Cleanup costs exceeded $4.5 million (in 1969 dollars).18Beachfront home, apartment, hotel and motel owners filed a class-action lawsuit andwere awarded $6.5 million (in 1969 dollars).19Commercial and recreational boat owners received $1.3 million for property damageand loss of revenue (in 1969 dollars).20Union Oil paid $9.5 million (in 1969 dollars) to the state of California, Santa BarbaraCounty and the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria for loss of property

    What say you, liberals? Once the oil is cleaned up, there really isn’t anything to carp about, is there?

  9. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:53 am

    Pardon my html – the link seems to bleed across the page.

    My bad!

    I shall begin remedial courses immediately. If this site employs a moderator or a genius of html, please accept my humble apologies and thank you for your efforts at cleaning up my mess.

  10. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:53 am

    Pardon my html – the link seems to bleed across the page.

    My bad!

    I shall begin remedial courses immediately. If this site employs a moderator or a genius of html, please accept my humble apologies and thank you for your efforts at cleaning up my mess.

  11. muffler
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:58 am

    Articles that start with a title ending in a question mark are useless. There is no doubt about the damage done and what will be there for a long time…Stuff doesn’t magically go away..

  12. muffler
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:58 am

    Articles that start with a title ending in a question mark are useless. There is no doubt about the damage done and what will be there for a long time…Stuff doesn’t magically go away..

  13. muffler
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:58 am

    Articles that start with a title ending in a question mark are useless. There is no doubt about the damage done and what will be there for a long time…Stuff doesn’t magically go away..

  14. Ron Jones
    July 29th, 2010 @ 12:01 pm

    Hey…wait a minute!… So, you’re telling me that the ecosystem has not been as catastrophically affected as has been hyped?

    Why…that sounds almost like an ecosystem that was (dare I say it) “designed” to absorb and overcome such things.

    Hmmm. whoda thunk it?

  15. Ron Jones
    July 29th, 2010 @ 12:01 pm

    Hey…wait a minute!… So, you’re telling me that the ecosystem has not been as catastrophically affected as has been hyped?

    Why…that sounds almost like an ecosystem that was (dare I say it) “designed” to absorb and overcome such things.

    Hmmm. whoda thunk it?

  16. Ron Jones
    July 29th, 2010 @ 8:01 am

    Hey…wait a minute!… So, you’re telling me that the ecosystem has not been as catastrophically affected as has been hyped?

    Why…that sounds almost like an ecosystem that was (dare I say it) “designed” to absorb and overcome such things.

    Hmmm. whoda thunk it?

  17. richard mcenroe
    July 29th, 2010 @ 3:02 pm

    Norman: tinyurl.com is your friend.

    Stacy, oil continues to leak off Santa Barbara, right up through the seabed. Oil has ALWAYS leaked off Santa Barbara. The tribes there before the white man used to collect it and mix it with pine tar to waterproof their boats…

    Of course, the REAL danger in the Gulf now is those gigantic blooms of oil-eating bacteria which will now combine into a single massive organism that will crawl ashore and wreak havoc seeking fresh petrochemicals to feed on.

    I have got to lay off the sangria while watching SyFy channel…

  18. richard mcenroe
    July 29th, 2010 @ 11:02 am

    Norman: tinyurl.com is your friend.

    Stacy, oil continues to leak off Santa Barbara, right up through the seabed. Oil has ALWAYS leaked off Santa Barbara. The tribes there before the white man used to collect it and mix it with pine tar to waterproof their boats…

    Of course, the REAL danger in the Gulf now is those gigantic blooms of oil-eating bacteria which will now combine into a single massive organism that will crawl ashore and wreak havoc seeking fresh petrochemicals to feed on.

    I have got to lay off the sangria while watching SyFy channel…

  19. Bob Belvedere
    July 29th, 2010 @ 6:42 pm

    Richard: It ain’t the booze. This has happened several times in American History all ready. How else to explain people like Woodrow Wilson, Bill Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright?

    There was a mutation once: the gigantic blooms of oil-eating bacteria combined into a single massive orgasm that crawled ashore and became Rod Jeremy.

  20. Bob Belvedere
    July 29th, 2010 @ 6:42 pm

    Richard: It ain’t the booze. This has happened several times in American History all ready. How else to explain people like Woodrow Wilson, Bill Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright?

    There was a mutation once: the gigantic blooms of oil-eating bacteria combined into a single massive orgasm that crawled ashore and became Rod Jeremy.

  21. Bob Belvedere
    July 29th, 2010 @ 2:42 pm

    Richard: It ain’t the booze. This has happened several times in American History all ready. How else to explain people like Woodrow Wilson, Bill Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright?

    There was a mutation once: the gigantic blooms of oil-eating bacteria combined into a single massive orgasm that crawled ashore and became Rod Jeremy.

  22. Fishersville Mike: You can't deny it
    July 29th, 2010 @ 3:13 pm

    […] can't deny it Smitty posted a link to Rush Limbaugh's Undeniable Truths of Life. Since Sunday is the 22nd anniversary of […]

  23. Mike T.
    July 29th, 2010 @ 7:47 pm

    Richard: Just so. Do people not realize the La Brea tar pits are not an isolated phenomenon? And that there are hundreds of these oil seeps on the continental shelf. I’ve read that the yearly seepage into California coastal waters is the equivalent of all the offshore spills combined.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_seep

    And that’s wikipedia.

    Note the part about the Gulf seeps leakin These are geologic formations and reservoirs. Necessarily throughout geologic history there have been seeps, springs, broken formations, uplift, etc., which should lead one to conclude that oil is (hold your breath) a natural part of the ecosystem.

  24. Mike T.
    July 29th, 2010 @ 3:47 pm

    Richard: Just so. Do people not realize the La Brea tar pits are not an isolated phenomenon? And that there are hundreds of these oil seeps on the continental shelf. I’ve read that the yearly seepage into California coastal waters is the equivalent of all the offshore spills combined.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_seep

    And that’s wikipedia.

    Note the part about the Gulf seeps leakin These are geologic formations and reservoirs. Necessarily throughout geologic history there have been seeps, springs, broken formations, uplift, etc., which should lead one to conclude that oil is (hold your breath) a natural part of the ecosystem.

  25. ak4mc
    July 29th, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

    Y’all are lying, LYING I TELL YOU!!! There has never ever ever ever ever been an oil leak until evil dead white guys started pumping it out of the ground and spilling it all over everything. The La Brea tar pits were caused by Exxon and BP! And probably Halliburton! And, and, and Fox News!!!

    The only reason anybody ever ever ever thought to drill for oil is because Karl Rove appeared to them in the form of a tubby serpent and told them about it, just like Eve with the apple.

    You could look it up.

    (That should save Y4E and Zsa Zsa the trouble of chiming in.)

  26. ak4mc
    July 29th, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

    Y’all are lying, LYING I TELL YOU!!! There has never ever ever ever ever been an oil leak until evil dead white guys started pumping it out of the ground and spilling it all over everything. The La Brea tar pits were caused by Exxon and BP! And probably Halliburton! And, and, and Fox News!!!

    The only reason anybody ever ever ever thought to drill for oil is because Karl Rove appeared to them in the form of a tubby serpent and told them about it, just like Eve with the apple.

    You could look it up.

    (That should save Y4E and Zsa Zsa the trouble of chiming in.)

  27. ak4mc
    July 29th, 2010 @ 5:07 pm

    Y’all are lying, LYING I TELL YOU!!! There has never ever ever ever ever been an oil leak until evil dead white guys started pumping it out of the ground and spilling it all over everything. The La Brea tar pits were caused by Exxon and BP! And probably Halliburton! And, and, and Fox News!!!

    The only reason anybody ever ever ever thought to drill for oil is because Karl Rove appeared to them in the form of a tubby serpent and told them about it, just like Eve with the apple.

    You could look it up.

    (That should save Y4E and Zsa Zsa the trouble of chiming in.)

  28. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 9:14 pm

    You know, I’ve found that tinyurl.com is useless. No one clicks those things. Twitter is full of links no one ever clicks IMHO.

  29. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 9:14 pm

    You know, I’ve found that tinyurl.com is useless. No one clicks those things. Twitter is full of links no one ever clicks IMHO.

  30. Norman Rogers
    July 29th, 2010 @ 5:14 pm

    You know, I’ve found that tinyurl.com is useless. No one clicks those things. Twitter is full of links no one ever clicks IMHO.

  31. The nation’s sacrifice zone, part I | The Lens
    August 3rd, 2010 @ 1:37 pm

    […] in the articles about “the real slow-motion ecological calamity” of coastal loss, in order to downplay the BP oil disaster and engage in political score-keeping. With few exceptions,  progressives let […]