Yikes. Walter Williams of George Mason is angry. I don’t know this guy, but I think he’d scare the living daylights out of me if we ever bumped into each other in a dark alley somewhere. In a column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review yesterday, Williams spouts about the power environmental groups hold over Congress.

I agree with some of his points. He is ultimately concerned with the government controlling too much of our lives. But some of what he says to make this final point doesn’t sit well with me.

He first says organizations such as the Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund have enough cash to make congress listen to them. Aren’t these organizations funded by their members? By donations? So that they can act on behalf of the interests of said members? Clearly they are the voice of the people if they are funded this way. Doesn’t seem any different than a presidential race when then candidate with the most funding seems to get the most votes.

He blames “greenies” for high gas and food prices because they have lobbied against drilling for oil and against nuclear power plants. As if they’ve done this just to tick him off. Instead of seizing an opportunity to find new and better technology, we just pay higher prices. The only piece of technology that hasn’t changed since the early 1900s is the car. The engine still averages a measly 25 miles per gallon. And yet we have the Internet and cell phones and giant televisions that hang on walls.

When it comes to capping greenhouse emissions? He says that will stop economic growth. Well, I hate to break it to Mr. Williams, but I think our economic growth has already faltered.

Finally, he likens environmental legislation to the same kind of control the government could hold in terms of tobacco and fast foods. But those kinds of controls are more individual. No one is forcing you to eat Twinkies for breakfast, but when a factory pollutes, we all have to breathe its air. As the earth warms, every living thing on this planet is affected. It isn’t just you and me, it’s our pets. It’s our trees and rivers and weather patterns. The Sierra Club, as far as I can tell, isn’t interested in what Williams calls a “thirst to wield massive control over our economy.” They just want a better place to live. No one wants to pay $1300 more a year for energy. So let’s find a better way to get our energy. Instead of getting upset about what’s happening, let’s change what’s happening.