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| what would you do; global warming | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 13 2006, 05:54 AM (215 Views) | |
| apple | Aug 13 2006, 05:54 AM Post #1 |
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one of the angels
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to personally contribute to less energy consumption Could you cut your energy consumption by 30%, with less driving, lights, heating, cooling, giving up luxuries (nonessentials) that use energy of any type? 20%? |
| it behooves me to behold | |
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| QuirtEvans | Aug 13 2006, 05:57 AM Post #2 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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If I had to, yes. But I would only do it as part of a collective effort. Free riders offend me greatly. |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| Optimistic | Aug 13 2006, 06:18 AM Post #3 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Ah yes, the tragedy of the commons. It's hard to commit to limiting your consumption when so many others around you are not doing so, and possibly erasing the fruits of your efforts. Like Quirt, I probably wouldn't make any drastic changes unless it was mandated. I do try to be pretty conservative with my usage, though. |
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PHOTOS I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up. - Mark Twain We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -T. S. Eliot | |
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| Nina | Aug 13 2006, 06:18 AM Post #4 |
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Senior Carp
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I already am. That means that you, Quirt, are my "free rider." But seriously, what would it take for you (or anyone) to feel they "had to"? |
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| QuirtEvans | Aug 13 2006, 06:30 AM Post #5 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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I'm all in favor of economic incentives (i.e., higher energy taxes), Nina. Or incentives to reduce consumption by installing more efficient appliances. Or gas guzzler taxes. Those things often work the best, although they do tend to impose more of the burden on the poor. |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| Luke's Dad | Aug 13 2006, 06:33 AM Post #6 |
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Emperor Pengin
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:lol: Higher taxes are incentives? How about giving tax incentives to those using lower energy appliances, vehicles, public transportation, etc....? How about lowering the costs of public transportation so that it doesn't cost me more than driving? |
| The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it. | |
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| kentcouncil | Aug 13 2006, 06:34 AM Post #7 |
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Fulla-Carp
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I try. All the lights in my home, except for the chandelier bulbs, are ultra-efficient low-wattage lights. My home, including the basement, has double the standard insulation of homes in my area. My windows are of low E thermopane construction. My heating and air-conditioning bills are half that of homes of comparable size. I drive a small, fuel-efficient car. But... I have a 55" plasma TV, two computers that are on continuously, and a ton of other electronic gadgets. I am my own free rider.
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It was a confusion of ideas between him and one of the lions he was hunting in Kenya that had caused A. B. Spottsworth to make the obituary column. He thought the lion was dead, and the lion thought it wasn't. - P.G. Wodehouse | |
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| Optimistic | Aug 13 2006, 06:43 AM Post #8 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Amen. If they just took away/reduced that parking fee, I could afford it more. |
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PHOTOS I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up. - Mark Twain We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -T. S. Eliot | |
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| John Jacob Jingoism Smith | Aug 13 2006, 07:14 AM Post #9 |
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Middle Aged Carp
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I think I probably live more energy-efficiently than most. But if I had to I could probably shave off another 30%. I do need a cargo vehicle and now own the smallest lightest one I could get. Good thing I got it when I did, because the last small pickups in the U.S. have been upsized to giant sized. Now they are ALL whales. But there are a lot of vehicles available elsewhere in the world that are more efficient, and if they allowed those to be sold here, that could go a long way toward cutting our oil usage. The auto industry REALLY needs to help us out here on this energy thing........ Aside from that I suppose I could live without hot water most of the time if I really had to. Cooking techniques could be examined and modified for efficiency (anyone for Chinese?). Solar cooking and hot water is even doable here. I could be very deliberate and efficient about car trip planning, wasting no miles on redundancies. I could be extra vigilant about lighting usage. Most of the world is getting by on a lot less energy usage than I use. If they can do it, so can I. I have lived in some pretty primitive circumstances in the past and I can do it again. But if the real question is what can we do to greatly reduce oil dependancy, a lot of it has got to involve major political, societal and business changes, not just little household efficiencies. I mean is this thread about energy, or oil? |
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Jingoism You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. Anne Lamott | |
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| kenny | Aug 13 2006, 07:33 AM Post #10 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Done Quirt, Optimistic, why is it that others not doing it didn't matter to me, but it matters to you? Why do I look internally and you look externally? Why do I take action while you justify non-action? And no, the neighbor's SUV does not "cancel out" my hybrid. Our net consumption is less than it would be if I had used that mentality to justify keeping my SUV. What makes some people fall into the "fairness trap", and others not. (You can take all the names out, I don't mean this to be personal.) I think the answer to these kind of questions is *key* to whether there is hope for this issue. |
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| AlbertaCrude | Aug 13 2006, 08:09 AM Post #11 |
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Bull-Carp
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We do what we can to increase efficiency in the home. Do not own an air conditioner. In fall, winter and spring we put on a sweater or such rather than turn up the furnace thermostat. However we're not prepared to freeze to death in the winter either. |
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| The 89th Key | Aug 13 2006, 08:20 AM Post #12 |
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What I do is to do what I can to cut costs. I know it's a bit selfish, but it's indirectly helping the environment. I turn off lights, drive less, etc....to save money, not to save energy. Not that I'm against it, but my wallet is in my mind when I'm filling up the gas tank. |
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| AlbertaCrude | Aug 13 2006, 08:29 AM Post #13 |
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Bull-Carp
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Believe me, with a 130 Litre gas tank, my wallet in my mind too; $145.00 at current prices. |
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| kenny | Aug 13 2006, 09:07 AM Post #14 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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apple I thought "global warming" was a lie made up by the left. |
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| George K | Aug 13 2006, 09:24 AM Post #15 |
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Finally
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Dear Friends, If I were asked what I would do about global warming, well, there's a list. 1) I would sell one of my homes. Let's see, the 10,000 square foot one with 8 baths, or the 4000 square foot one. I know! I'll sell the third house in Arlington and keep the two in Tennessee! 2) Now that I've signed up for using "green" energy, perhaps I'll finallly get around to doing it. 3) Petroleum Companies: BAD! I'm going to dump my stock in Occidental. 4) I'll contribute the $20K I get in royalties from the zinc mine that's under my home to a worthwhile endeavor. Maybe I'll buy a hybrid, and give it to Kenny! Whaddya think? 5) Speaking of mining companies, maybe I'll write the one that pays me royalties and ask them to stop dumping barium, iron and zinc into the Caney Fork River. 6) I promise I won't use my private jet to promote "An Inconvenient Truth" any more. Your friend in environmentalism, Al Gore |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| The 89th Key | Aug 13 2006, 09:31 AM Post #16 |
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In a way it is, Kenny. However, the real issue is the use of unrenewable energy sources. |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 13 2006, 09:39 AM Post #17 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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What would I do? I dunno, if I cared passionately enough, I might get a job in the environmental field and make it my life's work to clean up the environment, and reduce the human impact on natural systems.
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| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| Optimistic | Aug 13 2006, 09:40 AM Post #18 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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And you might want to start recycling
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PHOTOS I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up. - Mark Twain We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -T. S. Eliot | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 13 2006, 09:44 AM Post #19 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Pobody's nerfect. ...and we do in my office. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| kenny | Aug 13 2006, 09:45 AM Post #20 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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A quote by Mother Theresa comes to mind: "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." That quote motivated me to buy my first hybrid 3 years ago. Don't look at your neighbor people, look in the mirror. |
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| George K | Aug 13 2006, 09:50 AM Post #21 |
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Finally
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Al should look in the mirror before he tells me to. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| kenny | Aug 13 2006, 09:52 AM Post #22 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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This thread is about YOU and what YOU do. Politics is another thread. |
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| Mikhailoh | Aug 13 2006, 10:09 AM Post #23 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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The only 'Green Energy' that guy uses has dead presidents on it.
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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