We certianly aren't running out of things that people think we should do to save the planet from our gluttonous ways.

I don't know about you but it's kind of difficult to take anything serious when you have celebs suggesting that we wipe our hind quarters with one square (two or three for thoes pesky times) and wipe our mouths at the dinner table with a removable sleeve. Oh she said it was a joke? Fitting, I say.

We have elected officials who would like to legislate what we do to save the planet from it's fever. In theory, some of the ideas might help. In theory. Like the florecent light bulbs. Yes they use less electricity but they contain mercury, which if not disposed of properly could do much worse damage than just continuing to use incandescent bulbs. Ethenol might seem like it's a great alternative to gasoline, but we are learning that it has it's pitfalls as well. Our quest to find an alternative fuel source might starve people in other countries and bankrupt some farmers in ours.

For a reason I cannot at this time comprehend, many people are jumping on the global warming bandwagon. I guess a majority of people don't see as I see, that there is a lot of shortsightedness going on in regards of saving our planet.

I can't say that I agree that we are the cause of this climate change. I'm not opposed to doing things that help to conserve and make our lives on this planet a little more comfortable while we're here. I'd like to make a couple suggestions, and here some that you might have.

The things that I think could help will not cost taxpayers much, if anything. That's the way it should be.

1. I don't know about where you live, but here parents drive their kids to school. Many parents. I see traffic jams on the way to the schools and in the school parking lots. The problem is, there are a bunch of almost empty school busses driving around too. Do we need to have parents bring their kids to school and have the buses running? I though that busing was supposed to be more economical?

I drive through three towns, passing five schools, to and from work, every day. This is a real problem. There is a solution. Get your kids on the bus, like I, and millions of other kids did. Why do parents need to drive their kids to school anyhow?

2.I don't know if there is a "consensus" like there is on global warming, but there are a lot of over weight people in this country. We eat poorly, like it or not. In addition, we don't get enough exercise. I don't want to tell people what to do, but do we need to get in the car and drive to the end of the driveway to retrieve the mail? Do we need to drive around the parking lot to find a space right next to the entrance? Do we need to drive around the corner for a quart of milk? The point is, it doesn't need to be something we are mandated to do to be a help. Joy rides are fun, and wasteful and I don't want to give them up. We could leave the vehicle in the driveway some of the time, and get a bit of exercise at the same time.

3. Elected officials would like to make it law that we update our heating and air conditioning systems. They would like to make laws that make us do all sorts of stuff to increase efficientcy. I'm all for being more efficient, but at what cost? I just did a heating system in my house. It's not cheap. The govenment will offer no interest loans, but some people can't afford to pay back any loan. We are going to force people in dept to save the planet?

I don't think that we need to change all of our lightbulbs, but if we remembered to turn off the lights when we're done using them, that would help. We can turn off the heat when it's warm out side, and turn off the AC whe the air temp out side is comfortable.

If we, as a country, could try to collectively use our heads and employ some common sense, we could conserve and live comfortably. I'd rather do that than have celebs and politicians enact hairbrain, shortsighted laws that force us to spend a bunch of money now for something that may end up causing more damage down the road.

What do you think?

 

I wonder why you rarely hear population brought up as a cause for global warming? Surely if a few billion people weren't breathing out carbon dioxide 24 hours a day, and venting methane at least a few times a day, there would be less GW. Not to mention the cut back on the use of toilet paper for chrissake.

 

I heat my house with wood---I did it to save $$$ on natural gas---not necessarily to save natural gas. By burning wood, though, I merely return the CO2 that the tree took in during its lifetime---or so I have heard.

When I do not have to officate after school, I do ride my bike (bicycle) to school; and you all know that 5.4's love to suck down the gas. Plus, it is great for my CV system and my knees.

I also try to hang clothes out on a line (my son calls it "going Amish")---again, not necessarily to cut back on using the dryer, but to cut back on what we spend on using the dryer.

I guess I hav some alterior motives, but they save energy---and energy=$$.

Tim C.

 

An often-overlooked UN report states that cows are a huge culprit:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...=warming%20%20

That’s right, almost a fifth of all emissions which is more greenhouse gas emissions than all the transport on earth.

 

Our government up here just today announced a ban on incandescent lighting after 2012. Sounds good at first, but then there's the problem with mercury in compact flourescent and how to safely dispose of them.

And what about when you need a bright light. CFLs only output the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent, maybe there's some higher than that, but I haven't seen them. 60 watts is a bit dim for many lighting situations. In my kitchen I put a 150 watt bulb in since a 100 watt didn't cut it. I'm sure in most peoples garages a puny 60 watt bulb will not do the trick, and the list goes on, for sure.

I'm all for trying to reduce our carbon footprint but we need some realistic solutions that don't have negative side effects. I mean mercury is nasty stuff.

 

I'll admit, I don't do as much as I should, but:

I ride my motorcyle to work and to run as many errands around town as possible (40 mpg!). People really don't buy motorcycles for Transportation. They should.

I'm real careful with my old motor oil, chemicals, Old batteries, etc. I think these things really do have the potential to do some damage. I know just a few drops of oil can contaminate a lot of water.

I do the little things they say if Everyone did would really add up. ie if everyone checked the pressure in their tires it would save millions of gallons of gas a year, etc.

They have put up about 30-40 of those huge Wind generators by my house. PA's going Green!

I did buy some Al Gore light bulbs too. Mostly because they last so long.

 

Some lefty idiot figures that by raising gas to $1.60 a litre by next year will rduce emissions to meet that Kyoto BS in Canada. I love thier ****in logic, anyone who needs to drive and needs a large vehicle is gonna take it up the *** royaly. Part of the thinking is it will force people to buy more efficient vehicles. How the **** is anyone supposed to save for a decent down payment when they are shelling out that much everyday just to earn their pay Plus, anything that doesnt get 40MPG is gonna have 0 trade in value

I wish these idiots, and that jerkoff david suzuki would just disapeer and get real jobs.

 

Here is the image I wanted ot post but it wouldn;t show up fr some reason.....

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RwDlApgWCEayOP*Rw91ikLMF*ZKzF38dE9gnHQQdObfhHqNOT QEYF1N5PuJ7iMG8UAD06*vePI!SgOleCDWN0HE2CVknMshfSbz UqCoOK!g/squirrel.jpg

 

How did Troy MacClure say it "Battle with mother nature, the road to victory"

 

CFLs are available from 20W equivalent up to 150W equivalent (and probably larger), although I don't think the 150W equivalent would fit in a standard fixture. I replaced a couple of 60W standard bulbs with 100W equivalent CFLs. They use less power and put out more light.

Grim