About Me

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e. l . wood is a native of birmingham, alabama. he grew up on the urban streets of dallas, texas before attending college at houston baptist university where he earned a b. a. in english and psychology. after a year of teaching high school english in the public schools of houston, e. l. wood attended sam houston state university where he earned a master’s degree in english. after bouncing around the deep south for several years, he finished his ph. d. in american literature before 1900 at the university of southern mississippi. e. l. wood has been teaching in some capacity since 1992 and has taught for a local community college since 1995. in his spare time, e.l. wood enjoys reading, movies, and the outdoors. he is personally acquainted with several search and rescue teams around the southeast. he is married to the lovely and gracious a. c. they have a daughter (special k), and one dog. They reside in h'burg, deep south. in addition to being the sole proprietor of the gandy dancer billiard parlor, e. l. wood dabbles in folk art and the occasional cultivation of a handlebar mustache.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

it ain't easy being green


the card to the right reads: "By the authority of all the saints, and in mercy towards you, I absolve you from all sins and misdeeds and remit all punishments for ten days."

no surprises here, but for those of you who still have your heads in the sand, beware the ongoing scams that are the carbon off-set programs coming to a town near you. just as johann tetzel absolved folks who bought indulgences through the church in the 16th century, so too will the green movement of the 21st century provide a “get out of jail free card” for those of you who want to do your part to save the earth. but remember tetzel’s little jingle: “as soon as a coin in coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” the modern day equivalent would be something like, “as soon as check to off-set company you pay, the earth will live another day.” again – it’s not that i’m against being green. clean air and water are great and worthy of pursuing. but i gotta cry b#@! s$*! on scamming folks out of their money. as fiona harvey and stephen fidler so astutely note in the finacial times in an article titled "industry caught in carbon 'smokescreen'", so called carbon off-sets often “yield few if any benefits” while “making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure.” and you thought big oil was bad. if you are curious and not faint of heart follow the money trail. what you will find is that big green is every bit as money loving as you thought the oil industry is. and, as a supply side capitalist who thinks america is a great country where those with imaginations should be able to profit from their creativity, i hope the carbon off-set folks make a ton of money from those who claim to be pro environment and don’t put their money where their mouths are. beware - communism and wealth redistribution is creeping into our society via the green movement.

5 comments:

Steve Bezner said...

I hear you, loud and clear, E.L.! You're exactly right! If you doubt the conscience of coroporations, watch "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and then imagine similar power given to a "Green" group. Same thing will happen...you can bet on it.

hi said...

Yo Dr. Leatherwood,

I agree man. I have been reading about the carbon sales recently. Most of the carbon off-set programs seem like the "Allegory of the Cave." They portray shadows of benefits to the public and tell us how they need our money to fix the world problems. But really, if you checked the company's financial records, you would see money going to places not needed (their pocket) to supposedly fix the earth. It's mostly a scheme to make money I believe. That is the goal of every business person. I owned at business for awhile. I did every every well. I had one goal in mind... MONEY! So I know what they are about.

I don't know if this made sense but oh well.
Later Kevin
myspace.com/xploxion

e. l. wood said...

thanks for writing a response, kevin. yeah - it really is like the allegory of the cave. when it comes to the shadows on the wall, what arethe puppeteers really showing us? on this issue, as with most things in life, if you follow the money trail you will get a closer perspective to the truth. i did not know you owned a business - what kind?

Cole said...

Right on, E-man. Preach it. Those liberals want the money as much as normal folks they hate so much. Reference is made to Al Gore's gas lamps in his own front yard.

SNAKE HUNTERS said...

Green With Envy, that's our slow-talkin' Weather Czar, Al Gore. He should run, all over his book! reb

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