Trees Do Cause Pollution!

Back in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan attracted widespread ridicule for pointing out that trees also cause pollution. He was, of course, right.

When we look at green plants in general, we should also consider the oxygen holocaust of two billion years ago. It was a much worse example of poisoning the entire biosphere than anything today. The cyanobacteria started releasing a toxic waste known as oxygen that poisoned nearly every anaerobic species. The oxygen had other effects. It converted ammonia into nitric acid and hydrogen sulfide into sulfuric acid. It removed greenhouse compounds from the atmosphere and caused an Ice Age. The oxygen also changed the chemistry of uranium compounds and enabled uranium to become concentrated enough to start at least one natural fission reactor.

We had acid rain, climate changes, and nuclear waste all as a result one single selfish species.

The real message is that anything you try ridiculing Dubya about today will be defended by us “reactionary crackpots” a few decades from now.