Letters to the Editor
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Bollix, bollix, bollix
Listen, it might you feel better to unplug your electric toothbrush charger (!), but that's all it will do. People like this are just trying to make you feel better about the fact that you live in the most unsustainable society on the planet. There are no "5 Simple Steps" to save the planet. There aren't 55. There aren't 555. American lifestyles are unsustainable, but happy-faced environmentalists like this like to help you assauge your guilt by thinking you are making a difference. Well, you're not. You start a "No-idling" zone at your school; the power company builds a coal-fired plant down the road. Which do you suppose makes the difference? By all means, protest the new coal plant, and drive your SUV to get there. Hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites.
And though it's extremely unpopular to point out, energy is an extremely elastic commodity, and it's worldwide. So guess what: if you switch off your living room light, you haven't "saved" anything. All it means is that a factory in China that is producing your Reebok aerobics shoes is going to use that energy to light up the room where they're making shoelaces. And what do you think happens when the Chinese workers decide they'd like some of the piece of the pie for themselves? Well, we're beginning to find out. How much did your last tank of gas cost?
Nothing YOU can do is going to make a damn bit of difference. And, even if 50 million of you do band together and, I don't know, save a forest or something, the lumber companies will just cut down some rainforest in Indonesia instead.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that all this "progress" is unsustainable; something has to give. I don't know what and I don't know when, but it's all going to come crashing down, quickly or slowly, someday. It's not going to be pretty, but I guess maybe you'll feel better about it if you've kept your tires well inflated.
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Drive efficiently? Stop Driving!!
Driving by nature is the worst possible aspect of this unsustainable society. Try walking, taking public transit, riding your bike. And housing itself is a form of transportation; live close to work and you won't have to drive.
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Here's a tip...
...that's actually realistic. Most people do not have the money for a hybrid car. The gods know I'd love to have one, but there's no way I can afford a new car! But along with choosing the most efficient vehicle possible (I've got a 4-cylinder guy), one of the best ways to conserve gas and get great mileage is very simple: drive 55. Cars are at their best mileage at 55 miles per hour; every 5 mph added reduces efficiency greatly. At 75-80 mph, you're close to halving your fuel efficiency. That is the main reason why this country institued the 55 mph speed limit back in the 70s, and why fuel economy has gone to hell in the years since it was dropped. (Well, that and all the ugly behemoths people buy as a compensation for feeling powerless all the time.)
Bring back the 55 mph speed limit! It's the best way to ensure fuel economy, and thus cut down on emissions.
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What a load...
Well, all this talk about public transportation is just peachy, but in Da South, there ain't public transit going far enough out for most people to use...and companies around here are mostly run by knuckle-dragging apes who don't understand concepts like tele-commuting or flex-time.
Look, there's only one solution to this whole problem of energy usage and pollution (and lack of proper food or wealth distribution, lack of affordable healthcare coverage, etc.)...and that's to "cull" out homosapiens as a species. Mother nature is trying to gradually do this in her own subtle way, ravaging the planet with Bird Flu and making childbirth increasingly difficult. But if you want to take one CRITICAL step to save this planet, it's to make the bold decision to not breed and populate the planet with more children.
Sorry, I know it's self-defeating, and declining birth rates among more enlightened folks will only allow the "breeding" religions (i.e. Catholicism, Islam, take your pick) to overtake the Earth...but unfortunately, I'd rather let them inherit this mess of a planet and let them figure it out than try to CONVINCE these morons that driving 55 mphs is going to reduce pollution enough to save us. My wife and I decided to drop the idea of having kids altogether...sure, we'll die lonely, but who would seriously want to leave their children with what's left of this planet? What kind of a curse is that? And people look at us strange when we tell them we don't plan on having kids?
Save the planet...hell, save yourselves, my friends.
Seriously, I'll try to do my best to conserve energy for now. But after living 6 years in a country with IDIOTS running our govt., I've given up hope that anyone can convince people in this country to change their habits, using such quaint notions as "reason" and "science." If it doesn't say so in the Bible, then they don't get it around these here parts. I'm not predicting the End Times, because I think that concept is just wishful thinking on the part of Christians to smother their daily guilt about their lives. But what I am say is very much what George Carlin used to say, that Mother Nature is a tough broad...she knows what she wants, and she always gets her way in the long-run. I agree, and she's got plans for all us if we continue to overpopulate the Earth.
Sorry to acid-rain on everyone's parade, but dems' the facts...
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It's time to step up!
Europe, in general, is way ahead of the US. Every major city supports a well developed public transportation system. Rail systems between cities are diverse and well serviced. You rarely are out of sight from an electricity producing windmill. Waste of all sorts is rigorously recycled. The price for gas is well over $5 per gallon. Although the nasty gas guzzling SUVs have started to show up in Europe, most people still drive sensible gas efficient cars. It is time for the US to get in step with the rest of the world. The consumer mentality in the US is truly something for everyone to be ashamed of. It is high time to change that culture. The points mentioned above will help.
The fifth point “play Paul Revere”, is fine so long as it doesn’t degenerate into a bunch of ‘Chicken Little’ types running around. The world is not coming to an end. There are plenty of sources of energy. We simply have to be more responsible in the ways that we use them.
It is not mentioned in the points above, but nuclear energy will have to play a bigger role in the future. And that will be a hard point for traditional environmentalists to get their heads around. But there are strategies for dealing responsibly with nuclear waste. The Japanese have now developed fuel cycle technologies that leave little waste behind. What Americans refer to as nuclear waste (spent fuel rods), the Japanese refer to as plutonium feed material. They reprocess, recycle, (and in the near future will partition, and transmute). These are all buzz words which essentially mean that they will use nuclear materials to their highest potential. The Japanese are well on their way to total energy security. The US will follow. Safety of operation and control of nuclear materials are of course issues, but they can be responsibly addressed.
The authors are right. Now is no time to be pessimistic. It’s time to step up!