NIMBYs in Iowa

I've been following the debate in Dickinson County over the siting of a good sized hog confinement about 4 miles west of West Okoboji Lake. Like anything, when you build something "raw" too close to a group of gentrified people, they are outraged, even while contributing indirectly to the offender's existence. They are, in essence, NIMBYs, or Not In My BackYard.

Here are a few ways to tell if you or your loved one is a NIMBY:

1. You are opposed to large scale livestock operations, but you buy your meats at WalMart because they are the lowest cost.
2. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, so you purchase a hybrid...SUV. This, in turn, uses more energy to build and to dispose of the batteries when its life is over, and your overall mileage doesn't improve considerably.
3. You are opposed to GMO (genetically modified organism) corn and soybeans, but you don't care about the farmer having to use more toxic insecticides if GMO corn is banned.
4. You request that your local grocer (again, WalMart) stock organic foods, but only if they are microwavable and come in disposable, sealed containers.
5. You drive 100 miles each way to see Al Gore's "The Inconvenient Truth".
6. You complain about nitrogen levels in rivers and write letters to the DM Register, but think nothing about the "Weed N Feed" you applied to your lawn.
7. You're against a new packing plant coming to town because of the "rif-raf" it will draw, but you wouldn't dare check the IDs of the landscapers you've hired.
8. You decry big pickup trucks as gas guzzlers, but think nothing of driving across town for a chocolate latte at Starbucks.

As you can see, NIMBYism and environmental hypocrisy are very close in nature.

To read more from the Iowa NIMBY point of view, click here, here, and here.