Your Jan. 7 issue contained two valuable items on global warming and the Keystone XL pipeline (OGJ, Jan. 7, p. 22; p. 24). They touch on some important truths, but it would be beneficial to take them a step further. The liberal left is characterized by a smug self-assurance that members of it are somehow inhabiting a higher moral and intellectual plane than their unwashed conservative opponents.
But the truth, which conservatives seem unable to grasp, is that liberals do not believe their own arguments. The Keystone XL pipeline is the clearer example. The liberals know as well as we conservatives do that this pipeline does not pose any environmental threat. President Obama proclaimed that the review deadline set by the Republicans did not allow sufficient time for review. This was 2 years after the project had been submitted to the State Department.
The real liberal problem with the Keystone system expansion is that it will be a successful economic project which will provide jobs and lower the cost of energy. Any such project will have the side effect of strengthening the position of the private sector, which inhibits the real liberal goal of increasing their power.
Such examples are legion. The liberals know as well as we do that hydraulic fracturing poses no risk to drinking water. It is conceivable that someone might sincerely believe this on first impression, but when they are totally resistant to any exposure to the facts and evidence then something else is at work.
But this is also the liberal weak point. It is one thing to maintain their smug attitude when the opponent lacks the wit to do other than argue on the facts. It is another to maintain that smugness when the opponent is stating that they are intellectually dishonest and do not believe their own arguments. Try it, it can be a lot of fun.
Douglas Wood
Bellaire, Tex.
