Another example of serious limitations in the intelligence of free markets. Someone is making big bucks cutting down large swaths of cypress trees in the Atchafalaya Basin. Unlike some here, I don't live in that area and have limited knowledge of it but sure sounds whack to me.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/03/louisianas-mulch-madness.html

Excerpt:

Like a Great Wall rimming the coast, cypress forests in the Atchafalaya and elsewhere in Louisiana are the single best defense against hurricanes—magnitudes stronger, more enduring, and cheaper than any concrete or earthen levee. Their extensive root system spreads several hundred feet, weaving a tight lattice that serves as an anchor against high winds and storm surges. Hassan Mashriqui, a Louisiana State University professor of coastal engineering who creates computer simulations of hurricanes, told me that a stand of cypress just a football field in width can slash a town-leveling, 20-foot-high storm surge by 90 percent.

Which makes it all the more staggering that in recent years an entire industry intent on logging cypress has lawfully sprung up. Some of the timber winds up as boards for home construction or furniture, but most trees are ground into garden mulch. That's right: The last natural stronghold that could stop hurricanes from obliterating southern Louisiana is being pulverized into chips to adorn the very homes that the cypress would save from annihilation. According to the Louisiana Forestry Association, loggers are razing up to 20,000 acres of cypress every year. If the carnage continues apace, Louisiana's strongest barrier between it and an angry sea will be gone in fewer than two decades.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

^^^^It will be a matter of minutes before the Botnst weighs in on this one

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

You would think, but he is loathe to speak ill of free markets, if I'm not mistaken.

Cash flow is king with many in America. Unfortunately, cash has no brain or soul, but it sure has an appetite. (one of my best original remarks, if I may say so myself)

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Fullacrappola, the two o' yuh.

FYI I have been working against this practice for about 8 years. There is even a coalition that has been making some progress over the past 3 years, far more than I would have expected. Do you think it's an accident taht this is in the news? Not surprisingly, Katrina played a role in that since increased awareness of the role of coastal & inland veg in storm attenuation has gotten the attention of people who formerly didn't give a crap. What we are working toward is voluntary agreement among retailers NOT to carry it. Most mom & pops no longer carry it. Lowes, and Home Depot are the most recalcitrant retailers.

If you want to get involved tell the retailers in your area that you'd prefer they not sell cypress mulch.

Thank you.

B

Actually, I couldn't imagine that your feelings would be anything other than what you said above.

Good tip, I'll raise the issue with my local retailers.

And what the hell did Jim say that was irritating?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I'm irritable. He's breathing. Therefore, it's his fault.

I need some Midol.

B