Re: Judge overturns Republican logging rule


"Thumper" <jaylsmith@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:pl7n45hbgs607acd4l1tend3ub6sncutj5@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:45:42 -0400, Mr.B1ack <bw@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Harry Hope <rivrvu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From The Associated Press, 6/30/09:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hjbsoHJWt8vufESvS7_9XEBaGGIAD995AU480
Judge overturns Bush administration logging rule
By JEFF BARNARD
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down the Bush administration's
change to a rule designed to protect the northern spotted owl from
logging in national forests.

I trust you won't complain when the price
of toilet paper quadruples then ? Coin-op
dispensers in the public loo ... or should
Obama subsidize that, the "National ***-Care
Program" ? :-)

[pssst ... read ALL of what's below before
you start posting anti-conservative rants]

Annoying as it is, there is just no substutute
for wood. It combines a number of physical
characteristics that make it ideal, sometimes
irreplacable, for many construction purposes.

Yea ... we've all seen that 'plastic wood' -
remelted milk-jugs - but it's not stiff and
can't take a lot of heat or UV. Doesn't hold
up to repeated flexing nearly as well as real
wood either. Worst of all, it's only as cheap
as it is because demand hasn't exceeded the
rather limited supply.

Paper ... well ... there are a FEW potential
fiber sources beyond wood, hemp being the best,
but it takes a lot of acres of hemp to equal
the amount of fiber in one big tree trunk. That
acerage has to be cultivated, fertilized,
irrigated, de-bugged ... the environmental and
cost benifits drop rapidly.

Plastic "paper" - you'd have to change to a
rather different printing process. And, again,
the supply of 'waste' plastic isn't up to
the potential demand.

'E-Paper' ? Might have some applications, but
you're not gonna be sitting on it, bending,
folding, mutilating ... and still expect to
read the thing.

[now see ... I offer *solutions* too :-) ]

Alas, demand for wood/paper is also exceeding
the supply. Current consumption is just not
sustainable - and the effects of denuding
forests sucks a big one too. Of course the
pine beetles may do it FOR us ....

IMHO ... we can split the difference and win.
Ban all-wood construction for new homes - no
more pine 2x4s and pasteboard and oversized
roofs that use more lumber than the rest of
the building combined.

There's a cheap alternative - stone. Properly
used it makes good walls, even in earthquake
zones. Use foamcrete and pressed metal studs
where possible - which includes roofs and some
interior walls. Hell, no more wooden studs AT
ALL - switch to shaped scrap steel.

Clay bricks are energy-intensive products, so
I don't recommend them. Glass however - alone
or used to 'glue' sand or gravel together - is
more effecient ... and it's not as if we have
any shortage of scrap glass. Glass or glass-
composite bricks are very strong and will last
forever - and have a fair 'R'-value too. The
translucent variety also cut down on the amount
of artificial light needed.

For earthquake zones - go to the Mayan/Inca trick
of using keyed shapes that can rattle - and then
settle right back into their original groove. If
pre-techs could do this 1000 years ago we oughtta
be able to make appropriate cement/glassine brick
dontchathink ?

Anyway ... removing most of the *construction*
burden from the forests should leave a sustainable
plenty for the *other* uses - especially if we
mix x-percent alternative fibers into paper.

Oh, of note, I a recent 'Nature' (or 'Science') journal
I saw that somebody took my advice and has begun an
'assisted migration' program for plant species in
anticipation of 'global warming' effects. Smart. Why
wait for wind and birds to do it ? If GW seems to
be killing tree-species-X in an area, seed it with
tree-species-Y instead. Keeps the forest microclime
more intact. 'Holes' are bad.


It's all about dollars for you guys. What will you do when all the
trees are gone?

You obviously don't know anything about modern logging either.

Thumpty-Dumbass

.

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