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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>In 1973 the US passed a law that protects endangered species, but in retrospect it may have been the biggest victory for the oil companies. Reasoning: every alternative energy source that I know of could be slowed to a stop by various camps of greens, some perhaps employed by oil companies. If for instance, we figure out a way cheap means of launching Keith’s space based solar, we still need an area of ground to set up a rectenna farm. Any yahoo could claim that is the breeding grounds of the rare Snarkleberry’s snivelfly, which no one has ever seen, proving its rarity. By the ESA, that would meet the definition of a species, and so off we go to find a different place, which is in turn stopped by a different endangered species.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It looks to me like the deck is stacked in favor of the NIMBYs and some subset of the greens, because it is a lot easier to stop a project than it is to start one.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>