John Ingraham

John Ingraham writes from Bouquet, New York.

It was the 30th annual meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, a group formed in 1982 to support efforts to prepare for the possibility of nuclear war or accidents by building shelters and developing civil defense responses. Its chief adversary was Physicians for Social Responsibility, which argued that to prepare defenses against nuclear war was to make it more likely. The DDP was led by physicians, and doctors are still prominent in the membership. As the years passed, the group expanded to include leading scientists as its mission grew to promote rational responses to the scientific issues of the day, such as those raised by the claims of Greenism. The Review decided that this would be a good venue for us to show the flag and also to learn more about these issues, so I embarked for the meeting with a badge on my lapel: The St. Croix Review.

I must say at once that these eminent men and women were invariably friendly, accessible, and patient with my ignorance. Over two days there were 17 presentations, each (with question period) lasting an hour. Nearly all were excellent, several were outstanding. The opening lecture by Dr. Willie Soon, an astrophysicist from Harvard, "Mercury Air Toxics Standards and the Extreme Punishment Agency," exposed the shaky science underpinning the EPA's war on mercury. Dr. Matthew Briggs, adjunct professor of statistical science at Cornell University, followed with "Statistical Follies and Epidemiology," a probing, amusing lecture opening my eyes to the endless devious ways of manipulating statistics. Author and expert on environmental and energy-related issues, Dr. Bonner Cohen's lecture was a tour de force in its scope and depth, "Energy Independence for the U.S.," in which he began by discussing, not just the Marcellus shale but the whole range of shale deposits in North America. Then, with the aid of a world map, he described shale deposits around the world, at the same time that he analyzed the energy policies of each country. That was followed by a description of the demographics of most of these countries, showing that only the U.S. of the Western countries (U.S., Europe, Russia) has a birth rate (2.1) sufficient to maintain the population, and what this may portend for energy use. He closed by returning to the U.S. to show how exploitation of our shale deposits can be a boon to our economy by providing cheap and abundant energy.

Karen Moreau, a lawyer and farmer's daughter from the Hudson Valley, showed a film at lunch about the need for shale development in New York, where it is currently banned. She was eloquent on the need, showing scenes of prosperity across the line in Pennsylvania where fracking is permitted. That was followed by an expert critique of wind energy, and two presentations on nuclear energy, one by Dr. Jerry Cutler, nuclear engineering specialist (he was with Atomic Energy of Canada for more than 25 years), about the nuclear accident in Japan in which the only fatalities were not from radiation but from the quite unnecessary evacuation. Dr. Howard Maccabee, a nuclear physicist and radiation oncologist, discussed "The Health Effects of Medical Radiation" in an illuminating way.

On Sunday, the first presentation was "Sustainability Realities" by Dr. Paul Driessen, well-known commentator on energy and environmental policy, who showed the absurdity inherent in the concept of "sustainable" which, to mean anything, must entail the ability to foresee the future. For instance, who knew anything about fracking and its promise 20 years ago? He brought out the selfishness of the Greens in using the sustainability mantra to prevent all development - consigning ordinary people to diminished lives. Dr. Fred Singer, a well-known figure (even to me) gave a talk whose title says it all, "Low-Cost Energy Fuels Economic Recovery." Dr. Richard Lindzen, distinguished meteorologist from M.I.T., spoke incisively about the corruption of science caused by the global warming hoax. This was one of the very best lectures because of his crisp delivery, his articulateness, and his apposite slides of graphs and statistics. Dr. Rael Jean Isaac, author of books about the dangers of Greenism, criticized the science behind "Climate Science." Dr. Steven Hatfill was very informative about "Biological Agents in Warfare."

I talked up the Review at every opportunity, passed out copies, and I am proud to say that everyone who looked into our magazine was enthused! *