Why is America So Bright at Night?
I want you to look at the NASA map stitched together to show what the entire Earth looks like at night. Blogger Ilker Yoldas at The Thinking Blog presents this map to her readers and asks, "Do You See a Problem Here?"
Some of her readers' comments are typical of the leftist and third world point of view that America consumes way too much of the world's resources. Here are a few examples:
- I also see the lighted areas as the problem.
- That picture reflects a very non equal distribution of economic resources in our planet.
- The brighter the area, they are consuming (major part is WASTING) more of energy and resources. and these are stolen from other parts of world in some or the other name.
- I concur (with vital4all) that the brighter areas are consuming more of everything, resources that often come from less developed areas, resulting in dire ecological consequences for other parts of the world.
I imagine these people think that if America would simply cut back on energy use, the rest of the world would be blanketed with bright lights. If we would only stop eating, the rest of the world would know no hunger.
The truth of course is opposite: not only do we not steal a single stalk of wheat from anyone, we supply half of the world's grain. If not for America, most of the world would be scratching the trunks of trees looking for grubs to chew on. [Read America and Our Greedy Consumption of Resources]
Look again at the map. See all those lights in America? Do you know what those lights are doing on at night? Our drug companies are producing medicines and vaccines to keep the world healthy. Our agribusiness companies, aside from growing enough food for most of the world, are also creating crop protection, plant nutrition, seed and non-agricultural products to help the world's farmers and and producers to grow more of their own food. If we shut those lights off at night, the world would be plunged into hunger, poverty, and darkness.
On average, one American consumes as much energy as 370 Ethiopians [read Americans Deserve to Consume More Resources], but so what? If we gave every African 370 light bulbs, the Dark Continent would still be dark.
Let me tell you what I see when I look at the Earth at night: the world abright with bulbs invented by an American scientist and businessman. The electric that flows through these bulbs and the systems to distribute that electricity is made possible by one of the greatest electrical engineers in America. I see American creativity, resourcefulness, imagination and drive lighting up the world with fashion, entertainment, music, art, science and those inventions and discoveries that have made this era the best of times to live.
So tonight, out of all nights of the year, NASA satellites will see an America many times brighter because so many of us will be watching the ball drop in Times Square. So let's all turn on the lights full, raise our glasses, and herald the New Year.
Happy New Year to all my readers and friends. May your future be bright.
