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Clash of idiotarians

What happens when idiotarian values, movements or policies collide? When EU clashes with animal rights activists…

Thousands of animals face laboratory tests involving industrial chemicals because of new European Union legislation. The EU measure, called Reach (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), is intended to impose strict regulation on Europe’s chemical industry. It will require new laboratory tests on animals for 30,000 separate chemicals currently in production in Europe. At present, each country has its own laws governing testing.

In reply to Dr Spink’s question, Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, said Reach required 20,000 chemicals to be tested on at least 25 animals – a total of 500,000 tests. Another 4,000 substances would require 1,500 animal tests each – six million in all. The number of tests for the remaining 6,000 chemicals was not stated.

Or when “environment-friendly” energy sources meet conservationists…

Wind farms – the “environment-friendly” energy source – are threatening to push the golden eagle, one of Britain’s rarest birds, into extinction. Conservationists say that the rapid spread of the farms in Britain – encouraged by Government subsidies for renewable energy projects – poses a grave threat to birds of prey. Other species at risk are osprey, red kites, merlins, kestrels, honey buzzards, ravens and peregrine falcons.

Both of these articles in one day. More and faster, please.

8 comments to Clash of idiotarians

  • Wind farms – the “environment-friendly” energy source – are threatening to push the golden eagle, one of Britain’s rarest birds, into extinction

    And there are those bloody farmers again! Evil folk, I tell ya!

  • The REACH laws are the product of ferocious lobbying by the Green-scum in the first place. Using all the familiar tactics of bogus statistics and scare-mongering they have blackmailed the EU Commission into passing these laws which will saddle European industries with vast, unnecessary extra costs.

    More unemployment on the way and, I daresay, more of that outsourcing to India and China.

  • John Thacker

    Sadly, the fight between factions who believe “We must use the power of the State to force X” and “We must use the power of the State to force Y” doesn’t necessarily help the libertarian side. Perhaps it will help people to learn the importance of compromise, the value of avoiding demonization, and the fact that TANSTAAFL, though.

  • This is nitpicking, but wind farms in Britain will never make the Golden Eagle extinct, except maybe in Britain. Those birds live all over the northern hemisphere. There is probably so little good eagle habitat left in Britain that given the large territory they require there will probably never be very many on the island, regardless of the windmills.

    Don’t worry, we’ve plenty of them over here in the States.

  • M. Simon

    It turns out that the bigger mills are less dangerous than the small ones. It also turns out that they are less dangerous to birds than house cats.

    Recent surveys in America estimate large turbine bird kills at 1.5 per turbine per year. Compare that with your average high rise.

    Or the 100 million (in America) birds killed per year by house cats.

  • Andrew Duffin

    I don’t think my cat is much of a threat to the Golden Eagle.

  • speedwell

    I fired the local wind-power-advocacy electric seller that I had been using (here in Texas, we get to choose who to buy power from). They got all snippy with me when I told them why. “You guys have been doing this for how long now and your prices are still higher than everyone else’s?” “Well, if you can’t afford…” “Afford, hell. If you want people to fork out for environmentally conscious electricity, why can’t you make the rates attractive?”

  • toolkien

    The result of the ‘clash’ is a double waste of time. It is the problem I have in general with the ‘progressive’ ilk, they spend time and resources changing the playing field, only to be dissatisfied, and push for more change, sometimes back in the same direction they came from (they likely didn’t comprehend the full implications of their stance in the first place). Of course bureaucrats ride the trends coming and going assuring themselves an income. That is perhaps the worst scenerio. Alternatively, the dueling Do Gooders simply waste resources battling each other, playing a game of tug of war and ending up without any real change. I suppose that is a better result as they may cancel each other out, but there still is the wasted time and diversion of resources meanwhile.