dc_dux

Does background color matter..probably not:
Is google's participation in a one-day international public awareness effort good PR....yep.

If you want to rain on the parade, thats cool too. Can I suggest you carry an eco'brella?

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Cynthetiq

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Willravel

It's interesting to see the creationists branch out.

Yes, the Earth has been hotter! It's also gone through numerous climate changes that could easily kill billions of people.

Only a "tiny" portion (is that a scientific measurement?) is necessary to change the climate.

Most of Antarctica is getting colder. And the Arctic is getting warmer. That's because more of the warming trends are present in the Northern hemisphere (the hemisphere with the most people).

The media didn't abandon anything, science improved by collecting and processing more and better data. That's how science works.

Global warming (actually called global climate change) has a correlative relationship to stronger hurricanes (and typhoons) according to Kerry Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. He did a careful study back in 2005 that showed a direct link between sea surface temperatures and the intensity of hurricanes.

...I don't get my science from a penguin.

Cynthetiq

Nah...thanks tho. I wear a jacket with a hood. I don't believe in umbrellas. After living in the tropics for a while, what the rest of the world isn't really rain, it's more like just a nuisance. Ask Charlataan he'll tell you about real rain... so will Tully.

Regarding the PR, that's a whole different subject all by itself. All these businesses that are trying their product to "making a difference" by sporting pet causes, some of the profits go to whatever the project is. It's become it's own trendiness all by itself.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

roachboy

you're right, cyn--all political gestures are useless.

this extends to the gesture of saying that all political gestures are useless.

so your cynicism about what other folk might find important is as useless as you see the gestures to be-----perhaps even more so, because you violate your own logic when you make the useless move of trying to demonstrate the uselessness of the move.

unless of course, the idea was not to persuade, or even to make a gesture, and to thereby demonstrate the uselessness of your particular move.

but that would demonstrate the effectiveness of a useless strategy of demonstrating uselessness, which would make it useful in a way.

so that's not good.

i'm not sure i see a way of this useless loop.

just saying.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

Cynthetiq

could be. I don't see any way out of the feedback loop either, except actually doing.

Insted of making the effort only once in a while to assuage one's conscience which is quite bothersome to me. I didn't like it as a practicing catholic and I don't like it the guise of general society dogma either.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

ottopilot

I'll be sticking one of these babies on my Grand Cherokee V8 and Caravelle Interceptor w/big block.


text from the website:

__________________
"It rubs the lotion on Buffy, Jodi and Mr. French's skin" - Uncle Bill from Buffalo

smoore

Ah, hrm. OK. Thanks for the lesson.

__________________
smoore

Baraka_Guru

I have a sad feeling you don't know what irony is. (Don't disappoint me.)

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

smoore

Ah yes, "I live in a big city so I don't have as large of a footprint." I can't buy this argument. Your food must travel a greater distance than mine. You can't grow any of your own food. All of the products you use must be brought into this large city. No one ever talks about those numbers and I can't measure the effect.

BTW, I drive because I'm a construction worker. We build the offices people can walk to. It's just how it goes. I'm not negating your savings in any way shape or form. With the Stapleton and Lowry redevelopments (somewhat dense mixed use) I dare say people like me have enabled others to have a smaller footprint. Now they don't have to drive 5 miles for one store, 8 in the other direction for another. They can walk or take decent public transportation, something sorely lacking in the West, to work.

I think it's great you are so thoughtful about energy. Like you, I'm more concerned with my monthly nut than some vague cause. I do like the overall cause but my money matters most to me. You did the "cool all day/cool off at end of day" for yourself instead of taking someone else's word for it. To help educate myself and my family we did a similar thing, we were lazy for one month and I tried to be militant about turning everything off the next month. Spent some $20 on power strips everyone could plug their phantom loads into and saved over $60 in usage. We still use those power strips regularly, the kids realize that less money spent on electricity means more money on desserts and other luxury foodstuffs.

re: the OP: Why disapprove of this awareness? Obviously you are doing this every day but most of us aren't. If people can be shown the effect maybe it will carry over into their daily lives. This isn't just about home energy use, businesses are encouraged to participate also. I believe all of the exterior showcase lights in Denver will be extinguished as well. It's not a feel good "look, I did this" in my mind, it's advocacy that can carry over into our collective daily routine.

__________________
smoore

Ustwo

Never mind your pretty little head.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Baraka_Guru

This is becoming a trend of yours, this bowing out.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Cynthetiq

You're right about the trucking of goods into the city. There is little that can be done about that, but in a densely packed place where 8 million people live and work and area of 22.96 square miles. Providing those goods into a more centralized location is still a more centralized location. It amazed me that some of the freshest seafood I have had was in Madrid right smack dab in the middle of Spain quite far from the coasts. Last time I was in the Denver area, it was quite sprawling similar to when I lived in Los Angeles and New Jersey.

There are people here to do grow some of their own food, there are CSAs and Cooperatives. There are greenmarkets where those top chefs shop every day getting the freshest vegetables from the NY state farmers. But if they didn't truck it in, would the items be consumed? The farmers wouldn't have any customers and they'd cease to be farmers. I contend that most basic food products are grown and produced as close to the customer as possible. It makes sense that I get my lettuce from NJ versus California. I have options of blueberries from NJ or Maine.

Now if we were to move to processed products like Tropicana orange juice (Gawd damn it's $3.99 a 1/2 gallon now! used to only be $2.00 5 years ago, $3.00 last year) you're further away from their processing plant than I am.

What does bother me about the produce being brought in is having foreign produce from Brazil, Argentina, China, etc. just so that we can have strawberries and oranges during the off seasons. People need to learn when the seasons are and eat them when they are in season. The whole bottled water thing as well gets lumped into that discussion which is a whole thing all by itself.

I'm not disapproving of this awareness. It's the repetition that I think is more important, ala "The More You Know..." spots and I'm going to take a wild guess you are older than 21 so you may remember the "Knowing is half the battle..."

I find that these single item moments tend to be flash in the pan feel goodness for the moment. I fear that as a society aren't able to strike much change because it's hard. It's not easy changing habits and behaviors. It took me moving from one coast to another country, and even then I was still trying to live like a Los Angleno because not having a car was giving me fits. Learning how to take the bus, railroad, cabs, walking was foreign to me. It's the repetition that makes it happen.

The CAFE standards should have kept on rising because the gas crisis of the early 70s was something that shouldn't happen ever again. Yet, we feel we've done enough, we loosen the belt and stop doing those good things we were doing. I'm happy when they do gain more traction and become something more, but again, people seem to fail me all the time.

Last night at Whole Foods market, I was given a large brown paper bag that I didn't need. I told the cashier that I didn't need it but she had already opened it up and placed 1 item of the 3 in there. On my way out I took out my items and walked back to the line of people waiting for a cashier. I asked if anyone wanted this bag. (Just as an aside WF gives $.10 if you bring your own bag.) I would assume that people who are shopping there are more mindful and environmental but like your arguments earlier in the thread, one has little to do with another. Not a single person wanted my bag. I offered it directly to invididuals on the line so as to not have "Genovese syndrome" against me. It took me offering it to over 7 individuals before an elderly lady in the back stated she would take it. All the young hipsters gave me odd looks like "WTF why are you talking to me?"

BTW that Stapleton development looks like the Truman Show set or any other 80's Speilberg movietown.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

smoore

Yeah Stapleton and Lowry are so much like a movie set it's comical. The young hipsters with money seem to love it though. More power to 'em, shopping work and entertainment all within the neighborhood and all within 15 miles of downtown. Express buses and even *gasp* cab stands. It's a mixed use suburb where you could easily survive without a car. Most of 'em drive a lot but hey, we're American and cars define us.

Yes, Denver is the epitome of sprawl. Hell, they ran a marathon down Colfax Ave. for a couple years in a straight line. A straight line except through downtown where Colfax winds a little and they didn't even go through all of the 'burbs. Mind blowing. 45 minute commutes are common. Of course, construction workers avoid this by working 0600-1430 so I rarely drive more than 20 minutes.

It wouldn't be all bad if people would actually use the land they have but it's mainly landscaping, trampolines and pools. Screw that, I grow a garden and am tossing around the idea of getting some chickens. BTW, it's not fair to judge a man by the color of his neck. This suburb, Lakewood, used to be all farm. Surprisingly some of my neighbors have goats and turkey. I don't think anyone has a pig though, I assume I'd smell it while out and about. The new suburbs are 3000+ sq ft house footprints on 6000 sq ft lots. McMansions crammed so tight together you barely need a safety net for that damned trampoline. For an example, check out the new development in Highlands Ranch to the SW of Denver near highway 470 and the stuff in between Denver and Parker to the SE. The satellite views are boggling.

I like the idea of economy of scale re: food and products. How do you shop in this sort of environment? Do you carry food home two bags at a time, use some sort of a cart, what? We moved down to the "big city" from the mountains because I saw the writing on the wall re: fuel prices. We still shop on a monthly basis with a buttload of groceries all at once out of habit. I do like being able to just bike to the store to get anything we want at the drop of a hat now, running out of milk in the mountains means you make do without it.

Although it's probably too late now what SHOULD have been done re: getting goods into the city was trains. Trains are great for that sort of thing but there isn't anywhere to put them in most metros now.

I hate OJ and understand where you're coming from about out of season produce. That should self regulate as fuel continues to climb. That's certainly a huge price increase you've seen on your 1/2 gal container in the past 5 years.

__________________
smoore

Cynthetiq

That's where I get into this kind of conflict. It's good intentions with poor real everyday actions. I think of it as the gym membership mentality. I'm a memer of the gym that I never go to, but because I'm a member, I feel a little better as opposed to not being a member. I have the option to go and I intend to go one day, but that day never comes. The proof will be in the pudding to see just how much these people actually live and work in the same space. As their job changes, so will their commute.

When I lived in Queens, I used to have a folding cart similar to this one:


It was not all that effective when I was on my way home so I only used it on the weekends with planned market trips. But normally I carry about 5-8 plastic bags home from a shopping trip. They can be heavy when buying soda or bottled water (old pipes in the building sometimes have rusty sediment and brita filters need to be replaced too often making it too expensive.) Normally, I end up going to the market many times during the week, 2-3 times sometimes @ (about $10-$20 per trip) of course when we are most active in the city we are eating out so I don't shop sometimes for weeks at a stretch. We travelled the past few weekends, Tampa, Houston, and Chicago and had busy weeknights. This was the first market shopping for us in about 2 weeks.

It also makes me more aware of what I'm buying and why. I buy sales for items I know that aren't perishable and make sense. Bottled tomato sauces, canned soups, etc. make sense to buy them when they are on sale instead of full price. Am I really going to eat that frozen pot pie this week just because it's on sale? Probably not so it doesn't get purchased.

I found that when I used the cart, I tended to overshop than when I didn't use the cart. So I now don't have one, and I don't use a shopping cart in the store. I carry what I want to purchase and once my hands are full, I'm ready to leave the store. If I must purchase those small items for sales like this morning, 5 yogurts for a $3, then I use the small hand baskets.

This works for us and our lifestyle, you've got growing kids, I can't imagine you doing something like this, but I do know my Icelandic friends with kids go to the grocery store on the way home almost every night to get the final items like fresh vegatables, cheese, and bread.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Ustwo

Life is too short to always bang your head against walls.

Now and then it can be amusing.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Baraka_Guru

I agree with you completely. You should be more careful, maybe.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Cynthetiq

Well, I watched the CNN footage of them turning off the lights on the Sydney Opera House and the bridge. Lots of other lights were shining bright.

Not much changed here in NYC, at 8pm I looked out to see the Empire State Building had turned off it's white light. The bridge necklace lights were still on, and most of the city just seemed to be the same. I couldn't tell if someone in their apartment turned off the lights, or just wasn't home.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

smoore

I'm stealing that. They do have the gym membership mentality. "I live in Stapleton so I don't have to drive to get my groceries. Oh but wait, there's no Wal-Mart there so I drive to Wal-Mart."

Man, I don't think I could overshop. I'm a freezer meat, 25lb bag of rice kinda guy. If I don't eat it this week I'll eat it next week. Nice strategy of only carrying what you can without a basket though.

I really wish I had a market I could go to every day for fresh goods. That's something the "developing world" (and the old world) has on our culture. You know your butcher, you know your cheese maker, you know your baker. The seafood may come from over the hill but SOMEONE in the village knows him, so it must be good. Bad seafood doesn't sell very well.

edit: oh yeah, I was getting laid for Earth Hour. Yeah, I looked at the clock and said, "Oh I should turn out the lights!"... pfft, yeah right. We were pretty dark for the hour, all phantom loads off and the only lights besides basic safety and security were in the bedroom. She's out with her girlfriends right now and here I sit, talking to the likes of YOU.

__________________
smoore

ShaniFaye

Well I can report they didnt turn off the lights at the Barry Manilow concert(thank god!!)....couldnt say about the rest of Atlanta lol

__________________
I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

Nimetic

I love it. Nice.

I'm not an electrical eng.

But my understanding is that if a significant part of the grid(s) shut down abrubtly, there'd be a real problem for suppliers. I'm talking say 50% load drop in 10 minutes (which Earth Hour surely cannot achieve).

Can anyone confirm that?

Anyways... I'm sure the generators run throughout.

james t kirk

Could not have said it better.

Call me a ludite, I don't believe for one second in the theory of Global Warming. Just another "the sky is falling" idea put forth by a bunch of scientists looking for respect and wanting to attend conferences in Paris. (Bet there won't be a call-girl to be had that week.)

Reasons why I don't believe in Global Warming (other than the above)

1. Mount Pinatubo errupted throwing more Green Houses gases into the environment than all of mankind has since the begining of the Industrial Revolution.

2. There is Global Warming occuring on Mars.

3. The oceans throw off more CO2 than all of mankind.

4. Trees and vegetation need C02.

5. All living animals exhaust C02.

6. The entire theory of global warming is based upon a mathmatical model. Change even one assumption - poof, it's an ice age.

7. There is not enough data on record to be able to say that the earth is warming up.

8. 25 years ago, the same scientists were predicting the impending ice age where we were all going to freeze to death (Carl Sagan was one that I distinctly remember, who later went the "we're all going to boil in our own juices" route. Pass the dube this way Karl.

9. This last winter has been a bitch. Record snow, nonstop cold, and last winter was even colder.

As to the idea of shutting off lights, hmm, last time I checked, electricity was not like gasoline. It can't be stored in a tank. Sure, you might lighten the load of the generating stations, but don't think for a minute that they can power back the coal / natural gas / nuclear reactions to cool off those boilers. The system simply doesn't respond that quickly.

Besides, heaters, refridgerators, AC, hot water tanks, ovens, stoves - anything involving heat transfer - those are the babies that use power. Wanna save power - don't use your AC in the summer.

Also, burning 1 candle produces more CO2 than does burning 1 100 watt bulb (taken at the generating plant). Try throwing as much light as a 100 watt bulb - you'd need a hundred candles.

highthief

Personally, James, I think global warming is a reality. The atmosphere is a closed system and its pretty hard to imagine all the stuff we spew into it is not going to have an effect.

My concern is with guys like Gore and Suzuki who do more in a week to add to global warming than I do in a year, yet who are held up to be sages to be listened to at all costs.

__________________
Si vis pacem parabellum.

Ustwo

I think its funny that google 'blacked out' their page aka made the background black for 'awareness' but never turned it off (at least as far as I saw).

I think there are two rules that many of these activists follow.

#1 - Awareness is what is important, not real change.
#2 - I am not the problem, other people are, and they need to change.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Baraka_Guru

Personally, I think they should fix things like this first:

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

james t kirk

Absolutely correct.

I have many a debate with some of my more left wing friends who love to blame industry for everything.

One friend in particular I am thinking about thinks that taxing industry is the way to go. When I point out to her that industry is responding to demands from people and that ultimately, it is the consumer which must make changes in their lifestyles, she agrees. One time, I told her that I have a far smaller "carbon footprint than her" (and I do) she disagreed (probably because I think the entire GW thing is a pile of steaming crap (see above). When I pointed out that my house is fully insulated (hers is not), my house has a high efficiency furnace (hers does not), I have low flow toilet, new windows, and my car is brand new and put out far less pollution than her ancient Jetta - she tells me that I have renovated my house because I'm cheap, not worried about the environment.

The best was when I told her that if she was serious about reducing her carbon foot print she should reduce or eliminate her travelling abroad for pleasure. (She's a teacher and travels to far off destinations easily 6 or more times per year.) She lives to travel. She was completely offended that I should make such a suggestion, but the fact is that she uses far more fuel in pleasure vacationing abroad than I even come close to.

Cynthetiq

and that's where I get my gym membership mentality....

I'm sure when absolutely pressed to make the changes she needs to make she'll claim foul because she lives on teachers wages. Of course she could check off the box for Carbon Offsets if she flies Jetblue to those destinations and assuage her guilt in that manner.

baraka, I'm having a hard time understanding that graphic that looks like the NYC subway system

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

dc_dux

Earth hour has come and gone and the arguments will continue.

At least in the US, we've begun to take action (albeit at a snail's pace with the current administration) with meaningful legislation like the Energy Independence and Security Act.

More to come in '08.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Baraka_Guru

It basically means more energy is wasted (lost) than is used. You don't mean to tell me that you get lost in NYC, do you?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

james t kirk

Teachers in Toronto are very well paid.

My friend teaches highschool english and grossed about 85k last year.

Baraka_Guru

My wife, an elementary school teacher, makes more than my salary's worth less than your friend.

It takes years of service to get that high, doesn't it?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Ustwo

I can't wait for feel good, do nothing but raise costs legislation to come

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

dc_dux

What a surprise.

We heard the same conservative "feel good, do nothing but raise cost" arguments about the environmental laws of the 1970s - clean air act, clean water act, solid waste disposal act, etc. The results of those acts speak for themselves.

The same argument you made before with your "courage to do nothing" post...

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...&postcount=148

And of course you ignored my response....I'm still curious to know why you think "doing nothing" at the national level to conserve energy and improve the environment is good public policy.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Willravel

It must be frustrating to be conservative, always arriving to the party late. I'm sure in 20-30 years U2 will be on board.

Ustwo

If it makes you feel better I didn't ignore it, I didn't read it.

Hours/day.

Being a conservative on this board gets old pretty quickly, most stop posting or move on, the moderates do the same. I keep my happy face by just not reading every post so I don't feel the need to respond. We have communists, insane people, radicals, and a guy who gets a award on race relations from a major who had a staff member resign for proper use of the word 'niggardly'. You can forgive me if I pick and choose my battles and don't respond to every post telling me I'm wrong from people less qualified than I am every time the question of global warming comes up.

From a scientific stand point I feel global warming may be a short term trend, I do not feel we have contributed in any meaningful way to it. No amount of fear mongering will change that position.

Environmentally I am far more concerned about global cooling and when that trend starts again. We are believed to be in a 'short' period of warmth between ice ages. I'd be far happier with a warming long term trend than ice sheets to alabama.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

dc_dux

So you really dont want to answer the question why you think "doing nothing" at the national level to conserve energy, reduce CO2 emissions (the US produces 25% of world emissions) and improve the environment is good public policy......because the board has communists, insane people, radicals, etc.?

Cool

And you wonder why its hard to take you seriously.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

filtherton

Aside from you, I don't think that there is much disagreement about the reality of the earth warming up-- even the current American administration has admitted as much. The disagreement comes in in assigning causes and guessing time frames.

And for the record, I think Earth Hour is as effective as a means of direct energy conservation as Memorial Day is as a means of fostering any long term appreciation for the sacrifices of members of the American military. That is to say, each event provides a lot of band-wagoners an opportunity to put on a conveniently brief public show of support and then return to their day to day life as if it had never happened. It's a chance to pretend that everyone cares for a while. It's a nice gesture, but not much more.

By the time energy conservation is successful it's novelty will be a quaint memory. Which is to say that wide-scale energy conservation will come about as a result of necessity, and it will most likely be anything but a holiday.

Baraka_Guru

This Saturday (March 28, 2009 @ 8:30 pm in your time zone) is Earth Hour.

Don't Forget – 'Earth Hour' Happens Next Week - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

I remember last year. For me, it was: "Hm, don't forget to turn off the power for Earth Hour."

This year, it's: "Okay, what are we going to do during Earth Hour?"

My cousin is suggesting some of us get together and drink beer in the candlelight. That works for me. Simple...low key.

As this event entrenches itself into our culture, I'm sure many of us are starting to see more community participation and unique events.

• What are you doing during Earth Hour this year?
• Do you think this day of awareness will have an increasing influence on our view of energy use?
• Has it affected you yet?

I'm always reminded that I should be doing more to save energy. I think as more things such as this happen, it may indeed influence my habits and decisions. It would be different if I were a homeowner, but as it is I suppose there is more I can do as a renter. Maybe I'll look into it.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Willravel

I'm going to do it again, for what it's worth.

CinnamonGirl

Grrr... I'll be at work this year, and I don't think I can talk the Olive Garden into shutting down for an hour.

If I wasn't working, I'd be playing cards & drinking beer by candlelight.

__________________
"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"