. . . That is the Question

From a link on Professor Johnson's website, I found this story on the fake rainforest in the Boston Globe:

If They Build It, Who Will Come?

Wanted: Supporters

If you're a supporter of The Environmental Project ™ and want a soapbox to defend it in this forum, feel free to email me and I'll see about getting you set up as a contributor.

The vast majority of Iowans do oppose the project, as do all of the regular contributors to this blog, but in fairness I'd like to keep the door open to those who think it's a good idea and want to defend their reasoning or the reasoning of a consulting firm hired by Ted Townsend.

Private Funding

I took the wayback machine to October 8, 1999 and discovered the following bit about private funding of the PorkForest:

That investment will require a five-year commitment from multiple funding sources, including:

• Private funding ($10 million has already been committed)

• Local governments

• State of Iowa

Fast forward 5 years later (November 2004) and guess what? The project still only has $10 million in private funding committed!

So David Oman, Ted Townsend, and the gang have had over 5 years to get that number beyond $10 million and they've gone nowhere except getting fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley to give $50 million in deficit-financed money to fund the project.

And don't forget about last August when the Register reported that the PorkForest raised $565,000 in donations (all from Ted Townsend), but spent $600,000 doing it!

Nicholas Johnson: Rain Forest Dreams and Deficits

Nicholas Johnson had an editorial in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on January 9th concerning the PorkForest. It's reprinted on his web site.

Johnson's editorial was in response to a December 23, 2004 editorial by the Cedar Rapids Gazette (reprinted here).

After Johnson's editorial was published, he followed up with:

Once again, the paper fails to mention that its publisher, Joe Hladky, is a member of the Iowa Child board of directors. Not only is there no problem with his serving on the board, he is to be commended for his many associations with efforts to improve the local community, both by way of the paper and local boards and organizations, including this one. But given this potential conflict of interest, it might be better practice to reveal the association.

To view Johnson's vast archive of information and writings on the PorkForest, go here.

Opposing Pork or Opposing Science? Well, if you believe this column from the Iowa City Press-Citizen, opposing the Pork Forest is the equivalent of being against teachers and professors doing research.

Random Mentality comments on this rather hefty leap of logic by saying:

The "implication" is not that we should sacrifice research to education. To take the specific case of the fake rainforest in Coralville, we simply wish serious scientists would conduct your research at already-existing fake rainforests, like the one in England, in Omaha, or elsewhere. Or perhaps make use of the few remaining real rainforests in South America. I think their economy could use a small boost and it would help save the planet far more than building yet another monstrosity along I-80.

I couldn't agree more. Go check out the rest of Kris's post.