I've decided that I don't give a crap about the environment. You constantly hear people bickering about whether global warming is real and whether humans are causing it. Every time there's a good snowstorm here in Cleveland you also have the closet comedian come out and say that he just had to "shovel 8 inches of global warming off my driveway." What absolute assholes.
Look, there's no doubt the planet is warming up a bit. The Antarctic ice shelves are collapsing and glaciers are retreating all over the world. Anyone who says that no warming is going on is a moron.
Is this the work of humans or a natural cycle? Who cares? The end result is the same. And even if humans have nothing to do with this, shouldn't we all try to do a little better anyway? We should have more fuel efficient cars simply because it makes sense. Even if cars had nothing to do with global warming and we had an inexhaustable supply of fossil fuels, shouldn't we still try to make cars as efficient as possible? And shouldn't we try to make them cleaner? These things just seem like they make sense to me regardless of global warming or carbon footprints or any other media buzzwords.
I also think it makes sense to try to reduce waste but not because things aren't biodegradable. That's a bunch of hooey. Everything is biodegrable. It may take a millennium but trust me, plastic bags and bottles are not going to survive in the molten magma of the earth once landfills eventually get churned over. Computers, cell phones, water bottles, they will all eventually be broken down by natural earth processes. So we should reduce waste simply because it makes sense but I'm not worried about the environment.
The problem is that people think that we can somehow change the inevitable. At some point, given the normal cycles of this planet, oceans wil rise and wipe out many of our coastal cities. At some point, there will be another ice age that will wipe clean everything in the Northern half of the U.S. and the rest of the world. Whoever survives those things may be killed off by the next pandemic, inevitable asteroid impact or, ultimately, the expansion of our sun into a red giant. The fact is that the human race has a limited lifetime. We need to live smart. We need to live efficiently. Those things just make sense. But we don't need to become paranoid or obsessive about every bottle we throw away.
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You make an interesting point here. Ironically, I think what you are saying hinges on that thing which you often remind us is so repelling to people: change. People are just wasteful, selfish creatures -- ok, Americans are wasteful, selfish creatures of habit and convenience. Since they don't seem able to distinguish between what they want and what they need, they just treat themselves to everything. The damage to our air and water is evidently a by-product that goes unnoticed.
One of these days, I'm going to walk up to some soccer mom driving a Humvee and ask, "By driving this enormous car, which you might need in Afghanistan but clearly NOT in Ohio, you and all the other people with vehicles like these raise the demand for fuel and therefore drive up prices. The high price of gas is the fault of people like you." OH I so want to do that. While my car was in for maintenance I strolled around the dealership show floor. My Subaru Outback wagon is ten years old and still gets better mileage than any car on that floor. What's wrong with this picture?
I think the degree to which people grind on about their green habits has the high potential of turning off the average consumer. The fact that I eat less meat, turn down the heat, turn off the lights, take shorter showers and wash fewer, larger loads of laundry isn't just because I'm conscious of using too much water or other energy, but also because it's a more efficient use of my resources.
The sad thing, as you have also pointed out, is that some of us live consciously and within our means and resources, and others just sit back and gobble up whatever they like. So some guy out in Pasadena who makes ten times what I make is going to get a bailout on the mortgage he never should have signed, and I get to sit and pay my conventional mortgage and pray that my home value doesn't dip below what I owe. If it does, I guess it will be good to have practiced living with the thermostat turned down. My only hope is that climate change can keep up.
It's the same with the recent debate about the shortage of water in some places in America. Look at the West. Basically, a lot of the West is arid and has been for a long time. But because people keep spreading over the planet like a virus, we now have more people living in these conditions. But they don't want to live on the land the way the land is. They want lawns and pools and other amenities that are difficult to provide in the West. Look at Las Vegas. As much as I love visiting the place, look at how much fresh water they use for all the luxury pools and fountains. And then people want to siphon off water from the Great Lakes to help these people. It's ridiculous.
And yes, I'm completely over irresponsible people getting a free pass in this country. Every wonders why kids are so out of control (like the third graders plotting to assault their teacher). It's because adults are so out of control. Nobody reigns anyone in anymore because we're all afraid. We don't tell our neighbors to clean up their yard or turn down their music because we're afraid they'll shoot us. We don't confront rude behavior in public because we're afraid we'll be shouted down. It seems like everyone is TOO respectful of everyone else's rights today. People do not have a right to be irresponsible or rude or inappropraite, at least when these behaviors impact others. In your own home, do whatever you want. But if you decisions or behavior impact me, then I have a right to do something about it. Unfortunately, in today's world, no one will back you up.
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