Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

Archive for the ‘Environmentalism’ Category

Let’s Talk Trash!

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Let’s get down and dirty. Now don’t get excited. This column is not the least bit off-color or X-rated. I’m talking about your garbage.

Do you recycle? Do you meticulously separate your cans, bottles and plastic containers from the paper and cardboard?

The world is going green, but when it comes to our garbage, what we have been conditioned to do or feel compelled to do or – worse still – are coerced to do may end up hurting, not helping, the environment. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jane Chastain

February 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am

Posted in Environmentalism

The Great Green Jobs Flimflam

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Some people learn from their mistakes. It appears Barack Obama is not one of them.

Immediately, after assuming the office of president of the United States, Obama began clamoring for an unprecedented $787 billion dollar stimulus package. It was necessary, he told us, in order to put Americans back to work and arrest the rising rate of unemployment at eight percent.

A year later, the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent, but when you add to the list the number of discouraged workers or those working only part time, the rate is a staggering 17.3 percent.

What went wrong?

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jane Chastain

January 14th, 2010 at 12:00 am

McCain running for Panderer in Chief

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I was in the process of convincing myself to cast a vote for John McCain for president next November when he held a press conference in Oregon that reminded me why I find that distasteful.

The long and short of it is, he panders! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jane Chastain

May 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am

How Environmentalists fanned California fires

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Fire! It’s one of the most dreaded words in drought-stricken, wind-prone California.Eleven days ago, this word echoed through the small Bible study that had gathered at my home. That Sunday morning, the Santa Ana winds had arrived, as predicted. As night fell, the force of these winds was unusually strong and black smoke rose from a nearby hill.

Phone calls were placed to neighbors whose homes were located high enough to pinpoint the location of the unwelcome intruder.

In the days that followed, more than 500,000 acres would burn – an area more than twice the size of New York City. Three hundred thousand people would flee their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs. Some 3,000 structures would burn to the ground. Seven people would die, and several hundred would be injured. Lives would be abruptly altered, many changed forever. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jane Chastain

November 1st, 2007 at 1:00 am

Posted in Environmentalism

How ‘Wetlands’ threaten freedom

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What is a “wetland”?This is not a trick question, but it is important that we get it right.

It is the key to an issue that goes to the very core of what constitutes a free country: the right to own and control property.

Most reasonable people would give a simple answer to that simple question: A “wetland” is a wet land – land that is under water at least most of the time. When people think of wetlands they see bogs, marshes and swamps. It’s as simple as what the definition of “is” is, or so it would seem. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Jane Chastain

June 29th, 2006 at 12:00 am

Posted in Environmentalism