Zehn

Reminds me of Al Gore, he flies a huge jet and his mansion uses up tons of energy. - Ken

And that is why people with my background, knowledge base, and experience have guaranteed job security. Because of idiots like Al Gore, self-righteous Al Gore-loving Dems, the entire Republican party, and the uninformed masses. I will be paid to educate the public, combat the media, and guide the green movement into a position of actually knowing these things and making the smart... more... - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

lovely generalizations - Cee Bee

Buying a Smartcar won't reduce your emissions. The gas mileage on those things sucks for as lightweight as they are. - Alex Scoble

I realize that. However, the Smartcar is still a viable counter to an old VW van. - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

I always though "those granola-eating, save the earth, hippies" all lived in California (or Oregon) and drive a Prius...(please read sarcasm) - Kelly W.

It's hard to avoid generalizations when dealing with managing natural resources and the environment. There are so many misinformed people these days, and politicians and the media seem keen to keep it that way. I have to remain so unerringly neutral most of the time that it's frustrating. Especially when I see people make the statement that Zehn make. No, I don't really think all... more... - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

A Prius is a much better counter to an old VW van. - Alex Scoble

Yessir. *salutes* I shall remember that next time I have to hear this tired old line. - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

@Amanda: brilliant stuff. a lot of environmental hand-waving can get you a Nobel PEACE prize--something that struck me as odd, but whatever--not to mention the $1M purse that goes along with the medal. I saw 'An Inconvenient Truth' when it first came out and left the theater shaking my head at the audacity of his allegations, but people bought into it! He wouldn't have gotten nearly the amount of attention he did if oil prices didn't escalate like they did. (cont.) - grant fox

Yep, I'm in the 1% crowd that doesn't even own a car.. AND a Republican. :-) - Ken

all that being said, I don't think Gore is an idiot; he is just pandering to a growing group within the population that is misinformed either by choice or design. there needs to be a compromise from both sides, that's what eventually is going to happen, and the world will be better off for it. - grant fox

I agree, grant, Al Gore is a lot of things, idiot is definitely not one of them. - Alex Scoble

I consider Gore an idiot not because of his film but because of how huge a hypocrite he's been. He presents us with this film, and all this data, and asks us to think about the environment...and then he does little to show us that he's walking the talk. Perhaps "idiot" is too strong a word, but there it is. I can't unsay what I've already said. - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

if you think of environmentalism as a religion and accept that there are radicals in every religion, then you just write it off as par for the course and move on. it's when the radicals get listened to by the masses that you have to worry; the Taliban, Hitler, etc. But doesn't that usually happen under extreme circumstances? This is how I've concluded that although I get annoyed by the "tree-huggers" because of their inability to listen to me as much as they want me to listen to them, (cont.) - grant fox

they might represent a serious problem at the core and that I shouldn't so easily dismiss their cries. - grant fox

@grant: Very true. As someone once said, "The extreme always seems to make an impression." Unfortunately the radicals do kind of numb people to their cause by just becoming nuisances. It's like how nobody really flinches anymore when Berkely comes up with a wacky new law. We just shrug and chuckle and go "Oh, it's Berkeley." Unfortunately their core reasoning gets lost as a result. My... more... - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

well said Amanda, I'm with you. I want Berkeley to do what they do, although I don't always agree with them. Every side needs to be heard and represented. it's just frustrating to me that in the western world one side is only getting heard via the media. i'm not asking people to bathe in oil, but please consider the many benefits delivered by having it in our lives. our modern society was built on petroleum, we'll find a way past it most likely in the next century only because it's running out. - grant fox

Let's hug, grant. I like you. :D It's optimism like yours that keeps me going for one more day. - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

Amanda you shouldn't get frustrated with me :P, just blame Davis I do....They aren't the only ones I take notice of. Those so called peaceful protests that some how end up causing millions of dollars of damage. The auto ceo's flying in on jets. Some of those peta people who save the animals and some times burn down building. Davis who did Radiation testing on thousands of dogs and then buried them in the creek ( you know which one). Or wasting tax payers money to build a tunnel for frogs that don't use it. - Zehn

OMG I'd forgotten about the fucking frogs. That was ridiculous. I love Davis. I really do. it's a lovely town and I've spent a lot of time there over the years, since my family first moved to Dixon actually. And they have the best food co-op I've been to ever. But the notions they get up to are just painful and ridiculous and while well-meaning, they are very questionable in their... more... - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

And they definitely don't practice adaptive management, so instead of adjusting the process and trying again, they just leave these ridiculous things in place. More punchlines ensue. It's sad. It's too good a town to be so sideways. - tinypants - Hagitha of FF

You're not looking at this issue historically. At the time bugs came out, everyone had huge gas-hogging cars. The bugs were small. that's when the stickers came out. Now, it's just anachronistic. - anna sauce

I have been eating fried chicken... starting to look like I am going to have to add it to the list of things to avoid - J. Abdul-Qahhar

Yeah I gotta stop eating so many Hungry Man's.. been having 15 or more a month, or this month a LOT more. Not too great for you. - Ken