Ok--The Global is WARMING--but our solutions stink...
- added October 5, 2007
- 5 responses
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- dbeckmann
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- Earth and Science (11501)
- Collective Journalism (1651)
- Climate Change (1420)
- beckmann (15)
At this point, you can drive around in a GREEN hummer and people think you're helping the environment. I think there's a lot of double speak--inuendo and RED HARRINGS about the proposed solutions.For instance:Is the deal with carbon offsets that there are people out there that pollute less so I dont have to? Are these GREEN coordinators that companies hire just a bunch of bull so they dont have to actually do something about it? Lets look under the hood at this pollution and start going deep--enough of this superficially greenery
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You're definitely right, Dan. "Greenwashing" is becoming a real problem. Marketers have gotten clever enough to use catchphrases and imagery to evoke this sense of stewardship. There need to be more standards put into place when it comes to labeling and marketing products. Ultimately, a carbon tax on EVERYTHING is one of the only ways I know of putting people on a level playing field.
Carbon offsets are pretty tricky, as well. It is a way for corporations with a lot of money to basically buy their way out of actually implementing environmental changes. In an age of real climate crisis, it is very depressing to me that so few people are actually trying to make a change. -
Are you willing to pay more in gas tax to help?Bay Area officials may ask voters to approve a new gasoline tax - perhaps 10 cents per gallon - to pay for transportation projects even though Californians already pay some of the nation's highest gas taxes. -
I'd pay another $2/gallon if we could get more magnificent monuments to the marvels of modern engineering like the T-Third MUNI!!!!!!!!!
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If giving up the remote to your TV would stop global warming, how many people would? (Concept stolen from Bill Maher). Are people actually willing to make sacrifices?
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You make some interesting points here. I think back to the not-so-long ago Y2K era when we were facing a similar "we need to act now or the world's gonna end" crisis. My mother works in the industrial software business and was appointed Y2K coordinator for her company. Let me just say that she got more raises and bonuses and worked harder in that position than she had ever before. I remember going down to see my aunt and walking through her garage filled to the brim with canned food, water pumps and purifiers, and a monster generator. All this aside though, the elepahnt looming in my mother's office was that there were one of three outcomes to all of this. 1. Her debugging efforts would be too little, too late. 2. Her debugging efforts were just in the nick of time. 3. Her debugging efforts were a waste of time b/c there was no threat to begin with. I think we can safely scratch #1 of the list. As for the other two...well...I guess we'll never know
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