Request! A Post About The Environment

[crankyoldman]

Requested by first_seventhe because she clearly wants to get me in trouble. Sorry for the spam, I just have nothing to do atm.

So, um, alright. Just to get it out of the way, I don't believe in global warming.



BUT, before anyone starts yelling at me, this doesn't mean you should go around in a gas guzzler and litter and shit. I'll even be so bold as to say I'm probably a hell of a lot more environment conscious than a lot of the annoying yuppie hippies that I usually hear crap from (which doesn't include anyone on my f-list, mind you). I think the main problem with how we treat the environment is how we treat ourselves, that is, single-serving. Our cars, food, lives are very much me-centered. Think about it.

I only dislike global warming theory because most times, there are huge glaring scientific errors of thought that sort of make me stop listening to them. Like, for instance, that when the ice caps melt, the water level will go up. Now, I may suck at thermodynamics and chemistry, but ice has MORE volume than water, which is why when shit freezes in the cracks on streets it sucks when everything thaws, because it makes the cracks bigger. That's just one example. My biologist sister who knows a helluva lot more than I do about such things is even more vocal than I am about it being false.

I do think we are jackasses about waste, though.

I live in a dorm, which means I get to see some of the most lazy wasteful people in action. Come on, you can't walk down the frigging hall to throw a can in the specially marked can recycling bin?! Shit, I've been recycling since I was about, well, five, and we lived in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. We didn't have curbside trash pickup, let alone recycling pickup. Sorting through our recycling so that the local recycler place wouldn't reject it was actually a chore in my household. I actually can't throw a can away without feeling... really really bad. It's been conditioned into me. Want to make a bad first impression on me? Throw a can in the trash. I nearly got up in someone's face over them doing this (and in this case THE FUCKING RECYCLE BIN WAS RIGHT NEXT TO THE DAMN TRASHCAN).

It's alright to be worried about our dependency on petroleum, but whatever you do, don't trade your car for a hybrid. Making hybrids involves a caustic process that may very well poison your drinking water. I happen to like not dying from the water, personally. Get a catalytic converter for your lawn mower instead. And if you REALLY want to end the dependency on oil, just stop buying plastic materials.

Really. Most oil is actually used to make plastics, not power cars. I'm not kidding you.

I guess what I'd really like to see is people being less... stupidly hypocritical about the environment. You know? Like when I see an environmental plate on an SUV I sort of wish bad things on them. Or people that get all uppity and shit about other people needing to change their lifestyles. You know what? People won't give a rat's ass unless you give them a cheaper alternative. Welcome to capitalism. I also really am rather annoyed by people that go back completely to nature. That's not helping! That's not progress. Sure, some things we could go back to (like maybe being able to pay attention to one thing at a time) but completely backpedaling is totally not going to do shit for what's going on. If you can take the principles from way back and make something that's new, cheap, effective? THEN you've made a difference.

Hell, I don't even think my finicky recycling and general attempts to get by on public transport and bikes and walking is doing anything more than making myself feel better.

So I guess in short, my thoughts on the environment is that we are idiots about taking care of it because we like everything personalized. But since my faith in humanity is lost when it comes to socialism, we just have to be smarter about the shit that can be thrown away and being aware of where it goes. Also, to stop drinking bottled water and get yourself a filter. REALLY.

...And I'm totally never mentioning this again.

Comments

[katmillia.livejournal.com]

Don't hybrid cars get like 56 mph on highways and stuff? And how about that new car that emits water vapor, I know there has to be a catch somewhere, but it SOUNDS nice, and I hope it's not death as well cause I want one. >.>

*couldn't keep quiet*

[tijuana-pirate.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee ... I promise not to jump on you, Cendri, but I had to smirk a little because I work in a lab that's made itself famous through climate change research. ;)

I liked your point about how the solutions that people are offering aren't solutions at all because I agree with you 100%. I hate small-scale environmentalism and volunterism (aka, I voluntarily choose to buy more fuel efficient cars, etc.) because it's been pretty much universally shown not to work.

My older brother has a theory about all of this (this is what Arseneau siblings do when they get together; they talk science and politics. XD). Vincent happens to be a history major and he wrote a dissertation on emancipation history in England. He likes to compare it to the climate change problem now. In essence, during the emancipation movement, people were beginning to see slavery as a problem and they wanted to do something but, unfortunately, the entire British imperial system relied on the slave trade. They needed someone to help them redefine their system.

So, that's kind of where I see us as a society right now. We need a roadmap for change. That, unfortunately, is not something that scientists are particularly good at. Even if we say - well, we need to move towards more sustainable technologies, impose carbon taxes etc. etc. ... well, scientist might have a certain amount of respect but I don't think that we have what you could call a social capital. Scientists don't lead revolutions.

The idea of change is already building a social capital though. (The US primaries interest me for this exact reason.) And I think that a real, definitive change will happen soon - within our or our children's generation. It's just a question of stress in the system. We're going to have to adapt to this new environment eventually.

(Besides, peak oil will soon make this entire debate innevitable anyways. :p)

-T. pirate

[lassarina]

Fascinating. My Libertarian roommate is always sending me things about stuff like this.

I recently downgraded, so to speak, from an SUV to a Corolla and nearly doubled my MPG. I recycle at work and at home because it doesn't take thought nor effort.

Hybrids are actually not all *that* cost-effective because their maintenance costs are often higher than traditional. Also, if you buy a car not explicitly designed to be a hybrid (i.e. Prius) - the "hybridized" forms of Corolla/Camry/etc. are actually much less efficient than a 'real' hybrid because you're forcing a hybrid engine into a not-hybrid frame.

Anyway, interesting post, Cendri!

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

Your oil makes up most plastic reminds me of an anime whose name I can’t even remember which in a lot of ways was what you’d expect from an anime Captain Planet, anyways do to long convoluted reasons anything with petroleum oil in was disintegrating and all the people were surprised at the stuff that disappeared.

I think a lot of our problems have to do with me-centered attitude, not that I’m much better as I’m terrible with waste even though I do know better.