Re: NANFA-- Bush and the ESA

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus_at_hotmail.com)
Tue, 17 Apr 2001 15:36:55 -0400

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>All true; and their public university system sucks (if one cares...).
>
>Hi,
>All you have to do to have a system like Alberta's is find lots of oil,
>and decide to not spend it on health and education...
>The natural resource question alone makes it a poor model of government,
>and as far as I know, for all their oil and riches, they don't even have
>darters.
>
>-Gary
I know you're in Quebec, Gary, so I figured and hoped I hadn't inadvertently
insulted you... I should also say that I live in Alabama and our tax system
is pathetic, which is why we're going through "prorationing"--a fancy way of
saying across the board 6.2% cutbacks in the state's already low spending.
Thank God for Mississippi, or Alabama would be dead last of the 50 states in
ALL categories of education, etc.

But Steve is right in his statement that it's all a series of cost-benefit
analyses when it comes to environmental decisions; the crux is, do you agree
that the costs benefit you? And that's where we all make decisions.
Personally, I would convert the entire Bankhead National Forest in northern
Alabama into a Wilderness area. Many people who live there are adamantly
opposed to the idea because logging is the only thing they've ever done for
a living, and who is some clown like me to tell that they can't do it, even
with compensation? The truth is, their benefits would probably come out
ahead because of increased tourism; but they have a 150 year history of
contrariness and won't believe my rational economic analysis. (This area
seceded from Alabama at the beginning of the Civil War and sided with the
Union... _that's_ how contrary they are!)

--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL

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