While the world's economies reel under higher oil prices -- higher in large part due to bottlenecks in the limited refining capacity available -- environmentalists are blocking the expansion of two refineries in Roxana, Illinois, and Richmond, California.
But maybe the new refineries aren't clean enough, you say? The upgrade to the Illinois plant will produce a 95 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions and a 25 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides.(Jeff Perren has the details.)
But maybe 'the planet' can't afford the new emissions, you say? The upgrade to the California refinery will will actually reduce GHG emissions by 220,000 tons. (Jeff Perren has those details too.)
But perhaps you cant see the point of this new capacity anyway, since like the opening of new oil fields it will be "too many years" until we see any result anyway. A lot of people talk like that. If it takes ten years, they say, why bother? Well, why bother planting new seeds ... ?
As Jeff Perren concludes, "There is much that is decidedly medieval" in the views of the opponents of progress. Environmental objections to progress and wealth creation can be seen once again not so much as 'pro-planet' as they are anti-human.
UPDATE: On a related note, Paul Walker suggests the Greens are a communicable disease.
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