Wait....
What if I LIKE slutty girls?
I want to be very clear, that I also don't want the govt footprint in my life.
You want to REALLY get me riled, let's talk low VOC auto paint and what a freakin misguided fiasco that is!!!!!!
My point was simply that I do think it's important to raise awareness and make changes that force humans to clean up our act. As the world's top consumer of energy, it would make sense that the US start paying attention to the nest, and the damage being done.
I think there are HUGE opportunities in cleanly manufactured and ultra energy efficient products. I also think the third world is going to be forced to get on the bandwagon because energy is only going to continue to get more expensive, and the costs will force the changes.
Not everything is about money, but unfortunately, it seems that way here in America. There is little to no value placed on living a good life, running a clean business, or minimizing one's environmental footprint. I also believe it will be America's ultimate undoing because I believe people are getting mighty tired of feeling like hamsters on a wheel. (I know I am) I think we are going to see a revolt and a transition back to a simpler way of doing things.
The thing that make me most angry about the climate talk is disparity between us individuals having the screws put to us, because they can, vs big business being allowed to continue screwing around without making serious changes. We as individuals aren't organized and don't have lobbyists looking out for our interests, so we are the easy targets.
No long ago I visited Chicago and drove around the bottom of the Lake Michigan to where the steel industry is... Flat out PATHETIC that they haven't been forced to clean up their act. Yeah, it costs money, but the bottom line is it should have been being done all along. That area is horribly polluted and the air is unfit to breathe... Made me sick that they are still allowed to pollute like they are... It is simply ridiculous!
I do think Bob and I are on the same page to a point. However, the difference is I don't believe people will do the right thing without having some rules to follow. I'm not talking having big brother breathing down our necks, just rules that make sense and are UNIFORMLY enforced.
I do disagree with the notion that because the third world isn't cleaning up their act that we shouldn't bother. I completely disagree with that philosophy. I would submit that we could lead by example and develop super energy efficient products then export that technology worldwide.
I've also witnessed enough businesses that fought the "green" concept tooth and nail, heels dragging the whole way, who then figured out they were more profitable once they cleaned up their act. Yeah, some of them were forced. But even then, it was very eye opening to hear owners that fought it admit that that they were more profitable and it wasn't so bad after all. I didn't just witness it once, but many times over. It pretty much completely pulled the teeth of the "it's going to ruin us" crowd and turned some of the biggest skeptics into the biggest supporters.
That having been said, I'll be right next to Bob when the try to impose an airtight house on me, tell me my Lister is too dirty, tell me that I can't paint my projects without a licensed spray booth, or demand that I start wearing a mask while sleeping to cut my personal CO2 emissions...
I've gone back and forth on this issue within myself for years. I grew up in Los Angeles and remember driving a truck in downtown LA, sitting in traffic and not being able to read the freeway sign 30 yards in front of me due to smog. I remember spending weeks in summer not able to take a deep breath because I'd be coughing it all out for the next minute due to the smog... It's not like that anymore. Even with more cars and more people, it's not even remotely close to what it used to be like... So, as much as I HATE the Calif Air Resources Board, I begrudgingly do have to admit what they've been doing all these years is working.
That having been said, I think forcing manufacturers to put catalytic converters on all new lawnmowers is a bit overkill.... On the other hand, based on the air quality, what they've done thus far is working...
Hence, the internal argument...
Bottom line is there just needs to be balance.
I see no argument that justifies continuing to be the world's top energy consumer without regard to the environmental costs or resulting degradation, especially when the technology already exists to improve the situation.
I fail to understand how conserving natural resources and cleaning up the environment could not possibly be beneficial to the country in the long run.
How to best accomplish it or raise awareness? I don't know... I just know that we need to start moving in that direction one way or another...
Whether cap and trade works or it doesn't, it's raising awareness and that is good. The problem is, it allows industry, who are the biggest polluters, to just continue business as usual because they've "traded" and that pisses me off...
Bottom line is, if we don't get our collective act together soon, climate change, pollution, overpopulation, sickness, etc are going to become the limiting factors, and we won't have any choice as a species once that starts to happen.
Hence why I think it might be better to be proactive rather than reactive.
And no, I won't be burning tires in my yard anytime soon.
Steve