Rex Murphy whines about Earth hour.
As for myself, the wife and hope to be out having a nice walk between 8 and 9 pm, see if we can spot any stars through the smog.
Not that such events make alot of difference in and of themselves. They do however indicate the possibility of collective action, freely taken. A good signal to our political leaders, if any of them are listening.
All this AGW talk has crowded out virtually every other environmental concern, all of which are more urgent if not necessarily more important than AGW.
ReplyDeleteA person who makes 100 consecutive posts is not an environmentalist. He is a dupe.
Why? Because the media has succeeded in getting him to finally shut the fuck up about clearcuts, toxins in the Great Lakes, pharmaceuticals in our drinking water, smog, garbage dumps, coal plants, nukes, robofood, etc. etc.
Harper brought a perfectly good Clean Air Act to the table which would have brought Canadian environmental standards up to American standards.
AGW could have been dealt with in a separate act.
At the end of the day, it got scuttled by the NDP. My analysis initially concluded that Exxon has pictures of Layton with trannies, but that's something that actually might *increase* voter turnout among his "base".
* "A person who makes 100 consecutive posts about AGW is not an environmentalist."
ReplyDeleteYes and no. Cutting emissions involves stuff like making more efficient gas engines/hybrids etc., selling tech to the 3rd world that cuts down on burning soot etc.
ReplyDelete"they indicate the possibility of collective action"
ReplyDeletewell that's one way of looking at it. Another way is that it proves beyond a doubt that this movement is about platitudes, and narcissism.
We're purportedly at the apex of our doom, and yet most won't even sacrifice a single our without the luxuries of modern society.
Think about that. Of the over 6000 hours in a year, we'll maybe give up a single one. Maybe. Except if a good game is on that night.
For those that do give up that hour, they will get the necessary self-congratulatory, narcissistic feeling that they ARE saving the planet, and everybody on it.
And when that hour is up, they will go back to their tv's and cars, but with that warm feeling in their bosom, that they are different, better; they are the planet's saviors.
That hour is symbolic alright.
I hear China is in - for one hour they are going to turn off all their coal fired plants and down-tools on their massive national construction project that builds two new dirty coal fired electrical generation plants every week.
ReplyDeleteOne hour and China is guilt free.
Excellent. The triumph of plastic PR over science and common sense.
But we will all feel soooooo much better all wrapped up in our comfy moralistic fur. Such a Liberal moment.
Good grief - an hour without lights would be such a "painful" experience for the deniers.
ReplyDeleteDuh - it's symbolic and shows how many people are concerned.
God, you must be in such dissaray when the power goes out in a storm - pitiful.
I'm not one of those joiners in activist movements, etc. I am going to turn my lights out tonight.
I think it will be a neat experience.
The mother spent an hour in one year, as a symbolic gesture of how much she cared,
ReplyDeletethe employee spent an hour actually working, as a symbol of how he cared about his job,
the environmentalist, spent an hour in one year, doing without the luxuries that "cause" global warming.
Ahhh, symbolism, gotta love it.
I don't do protest marches and other activist things. I do things daily.
ReplyDeleteI only have a light on in the house in the room I'm in. I wash my clothes in cold water. We don't use any pesticides for weeds. We keep the heat low in the house and wear sweaters and sweat suits. We don't have the computer and TV on at the same time. I steam veggies in the microwave to save energy.
My husband takes VIA (expensive) rather than drive every day from rurual Ontario to Toronto, and much, much more.
So, for me it's not just the one hour.
Lectures we don't need from those selfish people who don't give a damn about others.
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ReplyDeleteIf we were actually serious about "Earth Hour" and the environment in general we wouldn't be adding record amounts of new citizens every year through immigration. Fuck Earth Hour. I'm going to turn on all my electrical devices if I can remember to do so.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:30,
ReplyDeleteYou'll probably be passed out by that time.
I'll post during Earth Hour and then turn on all the lights. Maybe I'll also go driving around the city aimlessly just for fun.
ReplyDeleteI'll post during Earth Hour and then turn on all the lights. Maybe I'll also go driving around the city aimlessly just for fun.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that'll be a real switch from what you normally do...wandering around aimlessly and trolling progressive blogs.
If nothing else - my energy bills are way down, my husband's car isn't taking a beating and steaming veggies is healthier.
ReplyDeleteIt's a win, win even if you're not into the environment. Those deniers must love wasting their money.
After reading the Blogging Tories (I need an aspirin) and the comments here - I think Conservatives are afraid of the dark.
ReplyDeleteThey're afraid the boogy man will get them. LOL