It’s Getting Better

Well, most of us have found out what mud and snow banks look like in October, and we never thought we would be cussing mud this dry year, but it did get old. The state looks like it is April with the greenish tint we’re seeing. Our thoughts, prayers and donations go out to those who suffered livestock losses and hope they get back to normal as soon as possible. We’re witnessing numerous charitable acts to help, and we commend those folks for their actions.

For those in the livestock business, it should be good times. Everything is good unless you are buying cattle. The packers are doing better, the feeders see some future with lower grain prices, and while operating costs are high, producers should be making some money. Fed cattle are at record highs, it looks like the consumer is still buying beef at the meat counter and people are still ordering beef when they eat out. Imports of beef are looking strong and that is really saving us. 

While much good is happening in the cattle sector, we still have Washington, D.C. acting so stupid. I don’t even think I can say who is right and wrong in that town – the President and his policies or most of Congress – and their actions just seem to complement each other on the stupidity charts.

I read an article this morning with the leading sentence, “Global warming gets nearly twice as much taxpayer money as border security does.” The article said that the White House had reported to House Republicans that there are 18 federal agencies engaged in global warming activities in 2013, funding a wide range of programs, including scientific research, international climate assistance, incentives for renewable energy technology and subsidies to renewal energy producers. Global warming spending is estimated to cost $22.2 billion this year and $21.4 billion next year. At the same time, the federal government will spend nearly $12 billion on customs and border enforcement this year. 

So, for the last 40 years, we heard that our nation’s coastal areas were to be flooded from the ice caps melting, and for the last four years we’ve been bailing out bankrupt renewable energy producers and giving coal a bad name. In fact, this same week, I saw a report that Professor Mike Lockwood from Reading University told the British Broadcasting Company that, at the current rate of decline in solar activity, there is a risk that Northern Europe could become much colder and enter a new “Little Ice Age.” The “Little Ice Age” refers to a period during the 1600s when winters were harsh all across Europe. The cold weather that plagued the continent coincided with an inactive sun, called the Maunder solar minimum. They didn’t say anything about North America, so I assume we wouldn’t be as cold. 

But for the last 15 years, our planet has not significantly warmed up, leading many to criticize previous predictions made by climate scientists. Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said, “In attributing global warming to man, they fail to point out that the warming has been small and totally consistent with there being nothing to be alarmed about.”

So the next time we are feeling the harsh effects of an early winter storm, just be glad that we aren’t drowning in rising oceans.