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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: combjelly who wrote (346901)8/15/2007 7:22:59 PM
From: Tenchusatsu  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 1575188
 
CJ, I'm all for reforestation, biofuels, nuclear power, recycling waste heat, etc., but every single solution has its drawbacks and cost.

Meanwhile, we have two other nations, China and India, that are rapidly industrializing and increasing their standards of living. That's two billion people right there, roughly seven times the population of America. How much should each American reduce his or her "carbon footprint" in order to make up for the increase in the "carbon footprint" of seven Chinese or Indian citizens?

This is the real problem I have with the global warming alarmists. It's not that I don't believe global warming is happening. It's that I think it's better to simply adapt to a changing environment, even if the change is man-made, than to try and hold back the tide.

As for the doomsday scenarios like "Waterworld" or "The Day After Tomorrow," well, that's for Hollywood.

Tenchusatsu



To: combjelly who wrote (346901)8/15/2007 8:21:03 PM
From: Joe NYC  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1575188
 
cj,

One thing I would add to the very good list of things that mentioned would be to encourage people to move (back) to the cities. I don't have any supporting link, but I think an average city dweller has a carbon footprint that is a fraction of that of a suburbanite or rural resident.

Let me give you my own example: I live in NYC, I don't have a car, I commute by electricity powered subway cars, use heat and hot water from power plants (waste heat). It surely takes less to heat an apartment in a building than a whole house. As far as the square footage of the earth used by my apartment, it is shared by some 20 other apartments above or below me. The paved road and sidewalk leading to my building is shared by thousands. If you divide the amount of paved space in Manhattan, for example, by the number of people living there, I think you would find it to be lowest you can find. Or, to put it differently, if all the people moved from Manhattan to suburbs, they would have to pave or build out an area that is several times the size of Manhattan island. Meaning less trees, less greenery, less wild live, less farm space would be left.

As far as other things, going to supermarket, restaurant etc. I walk. The AC expense (I mean power consumption) is unavoidable, but you can't have it all.

Life in a city can be fun too. There are pluses and minuses, it is not for every one. So, IMO, the destruction of the American cities by crime and welfare friendly administrations has a considerable environmental cost.

BTW, the turnaround of NYC is in full progress. There has apparently been baby boom in some wealthier parts of NYC. It may mostly be that some of the young people who start their families no longer feel a need to flee the city to a safer suburbs when they have kids...

So anyway, saving America's cities and their citizens from themselves (from electing criminal, welfare, union friendly city administrations the city residents like so much) would cause more of the decent people to return to cities, which would in turn reduce the carbon footprint of an average American.

Joe



To: combjelly who wrote (346901)8/15/2007 10:41:57 PM
From: SilentZ  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1575188
 
>What doesn't help is to sit on our asses and whine about how hard it will be to do anything so why do anything at all? That is the only way to lose.

Here's a guy with a good idea about how we can solve our problems <ggg>:

The world is going to hell in a handbasket, as everyone knows. Global warming, crushing debt, wars, occupations, terrorism, and moral decay assault us on every hand. Such things make me weep for our Western Civilization. But what can be done? Nothing, friends, absolutely nothing.

It is not possible to solve our problems merely by attacking them one at a time with common sense, logic, and hard work.
No, that approach has been tried before, and failed miserably. And here is the proof: problems still exist.
In fact new problems arise on practically a daily basis!

There are no easy answers, is the sad truth. And if there are no easy answers, then obviously, there are no answers at all. Even worse, to even start working on these problems would necessitate admitting they exist, and that we have been wrong about certain things in the past. These preconditions are impossible to meet.

The truth is no one can fix anything, and we have no control over the difficulties we find ourselves in.
And yet, just possibly,there is a way to fix all of these disasters without anyone having to admit they were wrong and without anyone having to work together.....

The Black Death. Yes, another Great Plague! Just like the one that killed a third of the population in the Middle Ages.
Hundreds of millions of people will perish, which would be unfortunate. But soon after, a Golden Age will dawn. It will be called the Renaissance, and it will solve all our problems and usher in a New World!

Doesn't anyone recall those brief shining centuries when the entire world pulled together and invented the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment, the Age of Exploration, and finally the Industrial Revolution?

Can't anyone remember the flowering of art and science that followed the Great Plague?

Never was there a time when our beloved Western civilization was so united, so unified against our common enemy - ignorance, disease, and of course, Islam. Never was there a time when people were so devout and creative.

But those wonderful times we only read about in history books could be ours once again! Imagine living in the time of Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and even Shakespeare!

All these people lived in the time following the Black Death. Coincidence? I think not. If only we had another Great Plague, these times would return.

Western Civilization would once again be the envy of the known world, which of course would be much smaller, with the consequent reduction in world problems.

Friends, only another great Plague will wake people up to the problems we face and give us the unity to solve them. The entire world will unite behind the great kings of Europe, the Pope, the Medicis, and eventually even Henry the Eighth.
America might even be discovered for all to enjoy.

Finally, let me make it plain, in calling for another Black Death, I am not hoping for one, just pointing out it would be good if it did happen and wishing that it does. There is a great difference between hoping something happens and wishing it happens.

I expect to be criticized for this diary, because many of the readers here are small-minded, mean, and hateful, like the Nazis and the KKK.

But for the rest of you, for the sake of our children, please join me in praying night and day for the return of The Black Death in order to save our civilization.