Articles by Biodiversivist
My real name is Russ Finley. I also have my own blog called Biodiversivist, which contains articles in addition to those submitted to Grist. I live in Seattle, married with children. Suffice it to say that although I am trained and educated as an engineer, my passion is nature. I very much want my grandchildren to live on a planet where lions, tigers, and bears have not joined the long and growing list of creatures that used to be.
All Articles
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Alien abductions on the rise …probes continue
I am no longer alone. Others now know that alien species are abducting the planet's rainforests. I was greatly relieved to find this article in New Scientist via Treehugger a few days ago. Admittedly, the number of environmentalists who think biofuels are a bad idea are outnumbered by people who have been abducted by aliens a million-fold, but maybe it's a start (I know, my posts on the subject are starting to look obsessive/compulsive).
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Biodiversivist
Carnivorous Powelliphanta snails that can grow to the size of a man's fist are being attacked by a coal mining company (note that this article was found in a business journal). What is wrong with letting a company move a colony of endangered snails? Well, first, the odds are very high that the move will fail. Secondly, if you don't draw the line here, what will stop the next person from moving them again when they want to build condos where they have just been moved? Why bother to save a snail species at all? -
Arrested development
Interesting. I quit playing in the dirt with my toy trucks when I was... oh, about 6 years old. A few weeks ago, the Forest Service announced a plan to control the proliferation of illegal trails created by off-road enthusiasts. Personally, as I said in an earlier post, I wish the government would just get out of the recreation business. I think it should be illegal to drive motorized vehicles off road on any public land. You can't dump garbage on public lands, why are you allowed to churn it into a mud hole with your 4x4? These people do a lot more tangible, direct damage to natural habitats than urban Hummer drivers. Most people are not aware of it because they do all of this damage off the beaten track.
Let the enthusiasts pay the market price for tearing up the planet. There are plenty of entrepreneurs out there who would love to charge them to use their property -- assuming, of course, that the government would create a level playing field by enforcing laws that protect wetlands and streams on these properties. You might even see a throttling of this growing industry by free market user fees, which could be quite steep, depending on competition, supply, and demand. -
All decked out
An article in last Sunday's Seattle Times gives us some bleak news. The Amazon is being illegally cleared at unprecedented rates. Why? There is a demand for the wood. Where? Brazil's main markets are the United States, which accounts for one-third of all timber shipments abroad, followed by China, at 14 percent and growing rapidly, and European countries, which collectively account for 40 percent.
