It is a saddening to read this Time Magazine cover story on the Clean Energy Scam. It is ironic that biofuels actually damage the earth faster by clearing of forests to grow corn and driving prices of everything up. As the author put it, "it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it".
Look folks, if that is heading the wrong direction, go back! As monks in kung fu dramas typically say, "turn around, the shore is right behind you", telling the big bad guys that it is STILL possible to repent (as if swimming off the shore). Some bad guys do actually repent and follow the master monk, but some don't. Too late, people already invested lots of money on this biofuel scam. It isn't likely to slow down, until it is too late.
So fossil fuels is bad, biofuels is bad. Ok, just what to do?
One thing that definitely helps is the hybrid electric car! At least that slows down consumption of gas, isn't it? Still not a very long term solution but at least it delays the problem. But a hybrid car is so expensive! The price must come down for it to become popular alternative. A tax reduction is a great way to encourage people buying one. What about full electric cars? How do I charge it? Instead of gas station we will have charge stations? How long does it take to charge? What about hydrogen fuel things? Is it around the corner? Is it going to be a green scam like the biofuel? A lot of things to sort out before we can significantly help the planet with non-gasoline cars.
The energy-saving lightbulb may also be a scam of some sort. Yea it lasts long, but costs much more than a regular bulb. But that mercury stuff in it pollute the environment! For the environments sake I do have energy-saving bulbs instead of regular bulbs, I'll toss them out with care when it runs out, theoretically in a few years.
Plastic bags and water bottles are the #1 enemy of environmentalists. I do agree with an extra fee for bottled water. I also would agree with a 10 cents a plastic bag fee: to encourage you to use your own reusable bags. Sometimes smarter legislations can help the environment.
Bureaucratic non-smart IT departments: how about require less useless meetings to discuss big colorful packs of powerpoint files already on screen? Just have people read the electronic copy, ok? Code reviews: (I haven't seen one in a while). It is ok to tell me just read the new code, don't need to print a DIFF report of what you changed.
When proposing solutions, one must assess the long term feasibility. Do they know the drastic effect of biofuels before they clear out the forests in Amazon? Is it really ok to use that energy saving lightbulb?
Shutting down power for an hour (while is an admirable way to increase awareness) is too minimal an effort that I didn't bother to participate.
3 comments:
One other "gotcha" with electric cars: much of the electricity produced in the US is made with coal. So, the more people buy electric cars, the more coal powerplants have to burn.
It's not as big of an issue in northeast Illinois, since most of our power is generated with nuclear, but as you point out--things are very complex and intertwined, and there's no easy answer.
My 2 cents:
Make roads safe for bikes. (this will also solve the obesity problem)
Work from home if you can.
Move closer to work. Find a job that is close (e.g. 10 miles)
Don't fly, save a trip, use web cam, for the business traveler.
(crazy searches in the airport hasn't deterred flying)
Ad campaign to sell tap water.
Plug in hybrid cars - for folks with garage. Regular hybrid for apartment folks.
More use of LED lights. (not toxic spiral lights)
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