ibenez wrote:

Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

This was a good article I recently read in Wired magazine..

*shrugs* Well-written article, but it really just depends on who you ask, what time-scale you use, where and how you implement the "solutions", etc.

People have always claimed to have all the answers. Next week it will be some other guy. The zero-sum solution is zero population growth, zero consumption, etc. Other than that, just do what you believe will be effective. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to save the planet. Start with reusable grocery bags or living close to where you work. And don't believe everything you read. :-)

-janelane, every-other-day optimist

Decius wrote:

Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

I particularly appreciated the observation that the construction of new cars has an environmental impact...

I drive an old Ford Explorer. I obtained it because it was the most economical vehicle for me at the time due to a complex set of circumstances. I continue to drive it because it is comfortable and reliable after nearly 10 years on the road (although my understanding is that they don't make 'em like they used to).

In the past I've had several green leaning friends complain about it, particularly at the height of the anti-SUV backlash in 2002... before the Iraq war diverted everyone's attention away from, er, domestic issues. It always used to piss me off. I didn't buy the car because I wanted to run down poor people in the street, as Jello Biafra once suggested in a rant, and I never understood how the extreme and unnecessary expense associated with replacing it would help the environment, particularly if I resold it rather than having it turned into scrap metal. My friends were literally suggesting that I drop tens of thousands of dollars in a gesture that would largely be symbolic... on a more fashionable car which appears to be helping the environment but actually isn't. Talk about liberal bullshit.

Now, were I in the market for a new car might I consider a hybrid? Certainly. I drove a Prius recently and enjoyed it. I think Acidus's new car is very cool. There is something about early adopting and using a more efficient technology that appeals to me beyond any interest in protecting the environment. But buy a brand new car when I don't need to, simply for the sake of keeping up with some fad? Fuck that!

If you've got ten thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket and you want to spend it protecting the environment there are much better ways to spend your money.

Drive a motorcycle. WAY less gas consumption - I get more MPG than a Hybrid; produce less emissions; and can drive faster than a Ferrari.

I once passed a Prius and a Corvette on the highway - and thought; wow - this is great - I'm consuming less fuel than the Prius; and able to blast past that Corvette - at the same time!

There's a safety issue of course - but we're all gonna die someday.