I have turned all my lights on. Besides I am still waiting to die because the sun was going to burn out. Or maybe it’s from the famine the massive population explosion was going to cause. No, no, I remember now – we are all going to die in the nuclear winter Ron Reagan’s industrial military complex will be unleashing on us.
Besides I was far too cold outside today to put much stock in fretting about global warming… although it does make me want to bitch slap Al Gore with my handbag. Oh yeah, I forgot it is not called ‘global warming’ anymore – now it’s climate change. Well, here is a head’s up for the luddite lobby – climate always changes.
11 comments:
If I wanted my lights off I would be camping, but I'm not. I'm with you the lights are on in my home.
All of them? I'm sure the hydro company appreciates the completely rational and reasonable response of you turning on all your lights to register your disagreement with those irrational Gaia loving hippies who turned their lights off.
I'm sure they appreciate the surge when all the Luddites turn their lights back on and return to their luxurious Western lifestyles after an hour of intense suffering, too.
OC
Well, that sure showed us, all right. Gosh, Kateland and Kate McMillan turned their lights on. I guess we were all wrong about global warming.
What a strange response.
The broader point is that unless OPG steps down fossil generation as a specific response to Earth Hour, the same hydrocarbon resources are going to be consumed -- whether or not anyone is using the electricity. OPG is going to generate exactly what its historic March evening metrics anticipate.
Balbulican & Stageleft:
This entire earthhour campaign was no more than an exercise in eco-tent revivialism and the downright smugness of those who participated or attempted to browbeat/guilt others into participating was offensive.
The consumption of electricity is no way even close to the biggest environmental pollutant our society is facing. There is absolutely no merit in turning off your lights and sitting in the dark for an hour-much better to make a conscience decision to stop using plastics, wear only natural fibers, and only buy consumables packaged in either paper or recyclable glass products.
And for those who planned their earth hour bbq’s or sat around in the dark for an hour by candle light poured more toxins in the air than I do in a month of Sundays keeping my electric lights on. Want to raise real awareness and be a real plus for the environment - then start a campaign to get people to give up their cars for a week or run a real advertising campaign pointing out the damage done to the environment from just driving your car - even if you only drive it for ten minutes. Ten minutes in a sealed room with your car running is often just long enough to induce human death. And me, I gave up the concept of car ownership over 30 years ago and have been using public transit ever since. In fact, even my bike is ‘used’. Can either of you eco-warriors make a claim to a similar record?
Well, it appears we disagree on what the whole Earth Hour thing was for, but that isn't what my comment was about anyway - it was about the number of people who were acting irrationally to get back at people they believed were acting irrationally.
I know people who did not agree with the exercise and went about their daily business yesterday - fair game, their choice, end of story.
IMO turning on all the lights, turning on the xmas lights, running out and starting cars and trucks, putting money in dryers at laundry mats just to run them, and a whole bunch of other creative reactions rank in the same category as people taking notes about whether or not their neighbours turned off their lights or not.
I agree with you on the other ways of being responsible but, since it seems important to you, lets play the "are you as eco-friendly as me 'cause if yer not then go away" game anyway.
I have my own grocery bags that bought and take to the store with me to avoid unnecessary plastic, I recycle, and I make purchasing decisions based on the eco-friendliness of packaging and content..... I am, in fact, also a socially responsible consumer and make purchasing decisions based on how socially and environmentally conscious a given company is. Although my hydro is included in monthly rent I do laundry in cold water, have low wattage energy saver lights in every fixture in the place, and am constantly asked "why is it always so dark in your apartment" because if I don't need 'em, they ain't on.
I do not have a car, am a local public transit advocate, and when the temperature is not so friggen hot & humid that it would probably kill me to do so I ride my used pedal bike 15km to work.
In the interest of full disclosure I also ride a motorcycle for recreation and to get me out of the city in the summer on camping trips as well as to visit friends and relatives - as I have said a few times on my blog, and on others, that means I don't get to complain about the price of gas.
Did I pass the test? And now maybe you can tell me what any of this has to do with wasting electricity by turning on all the lights in a house because others are turning them off?
Ditch the bike. And since we are getting all confession, I didn't have ALL the lights on in the flat on as it would be ridiculous to have lights on without a reason...its not like the cat needs light to read by. The rhetoric got a little heavy handed in response to the tone set around me in my non-cybersphere life.
I'm with you.
If I want to sit in the dark, I go to bed at night.
We depend on electricity for so much of our lives, that it's crazy to just turn it off.
That said, we should exercise common sense: turn off lights and appliances when you're not using them; use lower wattage bulbs if you can; turn the thermostat down 2 degrees.
If everyone would show some basic sense, overall electric demand could be brought under control.
Just my 2 shekels.
Ditch the bike? No. There are places that I go that I cannot get to without either (a) driving or (b) imposing on others to drive me..... there is also option (c) - take really long cab rides, but I fear that the cost of that would soon out strip insurance and gas expense.
I got on my first bike (a 10cc minibike) when I was 7 and have had something with an engine under me pretty well ever since. It's far more environmentally friendly that your average car and, as I say, I don't complain about the price of gas because I know it's a luxury and not a necessity (although a summer without riding would probably necessitate other serious mental well-being activities so it just may balance out).
At the risk of being accused of blogwhoring, there's quite a good and very, very civil discussion of what Earth Hour REALLY meant, and achieved, at http://www.stageleft.info/2008/03/29/climate-change-deniers-band-together-for-earth-hour/
Of course it was political theatre. That's precisely what it was, with all the attendant virtues and limitations of political theatre. And that's a bad thing?
Post a Comment