From what I see Agnostics, Christians & Republicans are the
Conservatives (I am a 80 y.o. Agnostic), it's the non-Christians, Atheists &
Democrats who are the Liberals. It's OK to hug trees and drive a fossil fuel
vehicle if you are working on alternatives at the same time. However there is no
Magic Bullet, be it electric, solar, propane or nitrogen in sufficient
quantities that will solve our resource problem overnight. It must be a
combination of factors in order for any one of these to assist in the solution.
The biggest part of our problem as I see it is the suburb growth and the
central city demise. We seem to be living farther away from work thus more
transportation is needed. And with our penchant for individual freedom, the
personal car will still be the mode of choice for decades to come...or as long
as it takes for mass transportation to become a reasonable reality. I did a
magazine interview with a famous Architect 20 years and his belief was that mass
transportation will not work until the bus stops at everyone's front door. I
tend to agree because we are a lazy workforce, and one that does not believe the
problem lies at our individual feet. Sit alongside a CA or Orlando freeway, and
count the cars with more than 1 person on board. Look at the gas guzzlers, most
of which couldn't get 25 mpg if they were shoved off a cliff with the engine
off. To get the population to collectively as a group, begin the process of
reducing our air-water-food problems is tantamount to looking into a can of
fishing worms and announcing: "Every one hold still while I take a picture..."
It ain't gonna happen folks! Environmental protection begins with each
individual. Don't throw that apple core or cigarette butt out the car window
into somebody else's neighborhood. Unless you are commercial, don't buy a
vehicle that gets less than 30 mpg combined (not the number on the window
sticker or the dash readout). Don't believe those mpg readouts on the instrument
panel ( fill it up and divide the miles driven by the gallons pumped) Cancel
your paper subscriptions and go wireless. Do all bill paying over the Internet
to save paper and reduce the mail carriers fuel consumption. Don;t drink
bottled water which will save from putting over 40 million plastic bottles a
day into the trash. Drive more conservatively to save wear on tires, thus
replacing them less frequently and keep the old ones out of the landfill. Use
paper or cloth at the big box stores, not plastic. Do not use any water outside
like washing your car or watering the yard and plants. Take out all those water
thirsty grasses and shrubs and replace them with Xeriscaping which never
requires additional watering. Buy LoFlo toilets and plumbing fixtures and when
you leave a room - Turn Off The Lights. Replace your bulbs with the newest low
drain ones. Insulate houses to save heating and cooling costs. Put on a metal
roof to keep the house cool (lasts longer too) Plant lots and lots of trees in
your yard. Start a group to get rid of all Coal fired power plants and replace
them with the cheapest and safest - Nuclear Energy. Natural Gas is good
too.
Oh well, and the beat goes on and I suppose I am preaching to the
choir. Most conservatives are already doing all this and the liberals don't
seem to care about our neighborhoods (just like poking their noses into the
business of other nations) so there is a terrible fight always going on. I
suppose those who don't care - won't care until they turn on the kitchen tap and
no water comes out; or when they step outside and can't see the street for the
Smog, or when the store food shelves are empty. Nothing is worse that a food
fight if you are starving. We can feed the earth's population now so what will
happen when our farmlands are filled with houses and roads even further from
work? Today over 13% of the population is starving. That is scary folks! With
all the improvements in methods and machinery that many people go to bed hungry.
Stop having more than 2 kids, that enough to show off our ego. Every child is a
USER of our resources and becomes a driver on our overcrowded roads, so stop at
2.
This is the only planet we have to live on and we must try to
preserve it's air, water and tillable land. We cannot do this by continuing to
foul up. Even a dog knows better that to poop where it eats. Somehow that fact
hasn't sunk in with humans yet.
Well, as I said earlier, I am 80 so not too many more years to go
however, I do not envy those in their 20's, 30's & 40's, they truly have
some tough environmental decisions to make if this old blue ball is not to
become a vast wasteland. So for as long as I can I will not throw trash out the
car window, not buy bottled water, irrigate my property, drive a vehicle that
gets less than 30mpg, turn out the lights, use a shower not a tub to bath and
support the environmental efforts of Republicans and complain to them when they
screw-up. Being born in 1935, I cannot leave this planet better than it was
when arrived, but I shall try as an individual to become part of a team. A
football team has 11 players and there is no such thing as 1 man
football.
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