If ignorance is bliss, critics are smiling

If ignorance is bliss, critics are smiling
By KEN MIDKIFF
Published Friday, April 18, 2008
(http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2008/apr/20080418comm002.asp)

Answering the critics:

Unless those representing agribusiness interests - Kristin Perry of the Missouri Clean Water Commission and Charlie Kruse of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation - know something more recent than an April 2 EPA report, they are whistling past the graveyard. While there is controversy about how much is coming from each state in the Mississippi River Basin (which includes the Missouri River and its valley), there is no doubt that it is runoff from fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorous that is the cause of the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. Every federal agency that has examined this issue has deemed that to be so.

I agree that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to conduct tests on the dirt it dumps into the Missouri River. But it has done that and found no contaminants. So why is Perry objecting so much, even to the point of putting corps officials on the Clean Water Commission’s carpet (with a large sign behind the commission denouncing the corps)? Maybe she’s just grandstanding.

Perry and Kruse might be right in asserting that agriculturists are using less fertilizer than in previous years, but it is not the amount that is applied to the land that is important; it is the amount that runs off. Now, a number of federal types that are committed to reducing the size of the Dead Zone are concerned that this coming year there might be more nitrogen-based fertilizers applied than ever before. Corn, they say, will be planted in plenitude due to increased prices for that commodity. So, it could well be that federal subsidies for corn and corn ethanol might make the hypoxia problem worse - not to mention that corn ethanol could never make it in a free market.

I’m pointing fingers at "farmers"? Well, no, but I am pointing fingers at agribusiness companies, which Perry and Kruse support. Fertilizer companies, backed up by bought-and-paid-for extension agents and university agronomists, advise farmers to over-apply fertilizers, much of which ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. It is interesting that both critics cite the same information. Could it be that Perry and the Farm Bureau are joined at the hip?

? A few people sent e-mails to my personal address taking me to task for saying that this area’s economy is not dependent on development that I alleged is ripping out the heart and soul of this community.

I asserted that the contrary was true. Do away with our amenities of green and open space, and this is no longer a pleasant place to live. However, for those not deterred by facts, consider:

I do not own or drive a pickup.
I do not live in a large house (two of us live in a 1,600-square-foot residence).
No one needs to live in a cave.
Most people would agree that strip malls are ugly.
Most people find dirt and mud (where trees once grew) unsightly.
Those who don’t like development on the outskirts of town are in the vast majority, as witnessed by recent elections and recent votes of the Columbia City Council.

To those critics, I say if ignorance is bliss, the lot of you must be extremely happy.

Regarding Earth Hour, as I understand those who chided me for pointing out all those bright lights at Memorial Stadium and Simmons Field, a track and field meet is more important than showing solidarity with those who care about the future of our existence on this planet. To be fair, however, no one defended the University of Missouri keeping classroom lights on all night.

I had driven slowly around campus in the wee hours of the morning. A few MU policemen viewed me with suspicion, and one followed me to make sure I was not up to something illegal. What I observed was a lot of electric lights - incandescent ones, not compact fluorescents.

The MU power plant was pumping out the kilowatts - burning coal, sending tons of carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere. For what? Nothing, as far as I could tell.