🚀 go-pugleaf

Peter Seidl writes:

>I saw a Perot ad on the tube last night where he was making light of a
>government funded (approx. $100k) project to study the (presumably
>environmental) effects of methane from cattle.
>
>A friend asserted that this is is potentially a serious problem, and a
>worthwhile research topic because cattle emit a tremendous amount of methane,
>and may impact global warming or greenhouse effect rates substantially.
>
>Another friend told me today that termites emit more methane than cattle, so  
>Perot may be right in suggesting that the grant is wasted tax dollars.

But how can we know how much methane either group emits, and hence what its
contribution to greenhouse warming may be, unless we study such questions? 
And note that the number of cattle in the world, and hence the amount of 
methane they produce, is mostly a result of human economics. [This is also 
apparantly true about the amount of methane produced by termites, since 
deforestation (resulting from human economics) can greatly increase termite 
populations.] So this is not an "academic" question. There are potentially
things we can do about it if there is a problem here -- and there may be. 

Perot's ad is similar to Senator Proxmire's erstwhile attacks on research to 
study sexual behavior in laboratory mice. Cow farts and randy rodents make great
populist speech materials given widespread scientific illiteracy. The Bush
campaign and local campaigns such as Bruce Herschensohn's in California are
getting milage out of such ignorance -- Bush with his recent references to 
"Mr. Ozone" and his sniping against the Endangered Species Act ("some bizzare 
policy about owls") and Herschensohn likewise with his ads declaring that 
Congress cares more about "rats and fish" than about people. 

The only possible remedy is a constant effort to educate the public at every
level and in every forum available. -- That, and to make people aware of which
politicians are championing ignorance and stand to benefit from it.

------------
Alan McGowen