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Originally Posted by GoPC It's about a foundational, wasteful attitude across the boards. |
And WAY too many people on planet Earth doing the wasting, more everyday as the rest of the world tries to catch up to the American/European/etc "standard" of living.
I agree with Al Gore on a whole lot of things, voted for him and all, but I think he has made a major blunder with the global warming promotion. There are signs of it's success - certainly has caused more discussion of human impact - but it is a dumbing down of much deeper issues. We are part of the earth, totally dependant on it, and behaving as if our short term personal benefit is the only reality.
By setting the focus on Global Warming, Gore and friends allow the hope that a simplistic solution can "fix the problem". This reduction allows the Mars arguement (valid, I believe), and others specific to warming ("worst winter in 40 years") to gain traction, obscuring the greater problems caused by human unconsiousness.
I haven't read this whole thread, do not know if my favorite simplistic solution has yet been mentioned:
Hemp produces several times the oil per acre and does not deplete the soil (corn is awful about that).
Hemp can be grown on marginal land unsuitable for other crops (although I suggest we should be aware of whatever is growing there now), so we would not be putting our food in the gas tank.
And hemp does not require pesticides and large amounts of energy-consuming fertilizer.
But hemp alone cannot solve the Earth's problems - people have to do that.