Thursday, April 09, 2009

It's the Humidity, Stupid!


As someone who has frequently applauded Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal's anti-government, pro-freedom rhetoric, it pains me to learn that he's just another scaremongering nanny stater:

Gov. Bobby Jindal has asked two federal agencies to help Louisiana perform indoor air-quality tests in homes filled with drywall imported from China suspected of emitting noxious sulfur compounds that corrode copper wires and household appliances.
Can this really be the same man who used the federal response to Hurricane Katrina as Exhibit A in the case against Big Government, and fought so bravely against the neo-Marxist pseudoscience of volcano monitoring?

Apparently so.
The governor said in a letter that Louisiana did not have the resources to handle the testing alone, and that the federal government should step in because reports of defective drywall had surfaced in at least four states -- Louisiana, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina.
Before we get hysterical and start trying to blame chemicals for everything that goes wrong, why not look for a more rational explanation? After all, sound science does not depend on consensus, but on a careful analysis of the evidence found in nature.

Primo, everyone knows that Louisiana has a humid, tropical climate. Secundo, everyone knows that moisture causes corrosion. Ergo, everyone knows that Louisiana's climate is causing whatever corrosion is frightening Gov. Jindal. Clearly, this "corrosion" is part of a natural cycle, and anyone who claims to believe otherwise must have a hidden agenda.

Maybe "hidden" is the wrong word. When you're willing to send the EPA to kick down people's doors in the middle of the night, just because their toaster doesn't work, it's pretty clear where you stand on the question of individual liberty.

Even if Jindal's Sulfur Theory were correct, taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for the bad personal choices of homeowners who failed to perform due diligence. But as I've shown above, it isn't correct — not by a mile. In fact, if sulfur is present, these families should be grateful. Because far from being "noxious," sulfur is a necessary component of all living cells. It's no exaggeration to say that if Jindal and the EPA were allowed to ban sulfur, everyone would die.

Or is that the plan? If so, our very survival is at stake. Which is why it's time for citizens who believe in freedom, prosperity, and private property to understand that the only thing that can stop the EPA is the RKBA.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

(Photo by John Pozadzides.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Besides your incredibly flawed "logic" claiming "everyone knows" without any actual hands-on investigation of the materials in question, and your obvious ignorance of chemistry in general, it should be noted that it says "sulfur COMPOUNDS", so many of which are not only corrosive, but also deadly.
And exactly what due diligence did you want the consumer to do? For every product you purchase, do you do a complete chemical breakdown, including long term decay testing? That's why we HAD government agencies to do this for us, until the moron twins dismantled them. It's literally impossible for the average consumer to protect themselves against dangers of industry. You don't just "let the market" handle stuff like this at the expense of people's lives. You have a preemptive government response to it to disallow industry from making such poisonous product in the first place.

Phila said...

Anon,

Just between you and me, certain views expressed in this post may not be entirely sincere.

jazzbumpa said...

Hey - anon can join me in the exclusive "Missing the Point" club.

Though I must say, as a speaker in sardonic irony, you may have overachieved a bit.

Phila said...

Though I must say, as a speaker in sardonic irony, you may have overachieved a bit.

I was originally going to stitch together verbatim quotes from denialist rants, but decided that was too much work....