Dear Al Gore: here’s some inconvenient truths

June 25, 2006 By

Coal on way to global warming

I read your book today, an Inconvenient Truth. Great book, I wish everyone would read it, but the ones who really need to read it probably won’t. I guess that’s inconvenient truth #1.

When I was in college I wrote a lot of editorials. Imagine that! Heheh. But — by far — the most unpopular one I wrote was when I advocated raising gas taxes by several dollars to encourage Americans to buy smaller cars and to encourage the car industry to come out with smaller and more fuel efficient cars.

That taught me the depth of the problem. We aren’t willing to face the hard truths.

Hey, Al, even you aren’t willing to propose one of the best answers: nuclear power.

Why? Cause you know that proposing getting rid of the coal trains with nuclear power will immediately get you written off as a wacko. You know where those coal trains are going, don’t you (I took that picture in Livingston, Montana)? There’s a reason why we’re all building data centers in Eastern Washington — there’s low-cost access to coal and hydroelectric power.

While I’m on the environmental kick, our industry has a lot to do.

One thing we could do? Get workers to turn off lights in their offices when they go home. I work a lot of late nights and I try to turn off a few lights. It’s amazing how few people care. And, drive around Silicon Valley some evening and you’ll see that most of us in this industry don’t turn off lights.

Our society is doomed and we aren’t able to come up with real solutions. Oh, buying a hybrid SUV is NOT a solution. I wish we were leaving Patrick a better world, but I don’t see it getting better. It’s gonna get worse — a lot worse.

Wake me up when public pressure turns on our politicians to solve these problems with real solutions. Sigh.

Filed Under: 1
← Older Comments
Newer Comments →
  • http://www.liftport.com/ brian

    nortypig
    sorry brian, my bad :(

    i misread what you were saying…

    No worries. Text is good and it’s cool that we can have a conversation between my kitchen table in Wisconsin and whereever-the-heck you are but it takes a skilled writer to get nuance and tone across. Skilled I ain’t.

    Scoble
    It’s very interesting to see the points of view here so far. It demonstrates exactly what I was saying. We don’t yet see a problem. There isn’t consensus on even that. So, talking about solutions will always be controversial.

    Wake me up when everyone here sees that there’s a problem.

    You want agreement between millions of Americans when we all can’t agree on ‘tastes great’ or ‘less filling’? Ya good luck with that.

    I guess it’ll take mass breakdown of society before we get to that point. That’s cool.

    Even then it won’t happen. Lucky the odds are good we’ll muddle through by the seat of our pants. Nessecity may be the mother of invention but she’s a lazy bitch – we only do the barest minimum we need to do to get by. This seems to be the way of things.

  • http://www.liftport.com brian

    nortypig
    sorry brian, my bad :(

    i misread what you were saying…

    No worries. Text is good and it’s cool that we can have a conversation between my kitchen table in Wisconsin and whereever-the-heck you are but it takes a skilled writer to get nuance and tone across. Skilled I ain’t.

    Scoble
    It’s very interesting to see the points of view here so far. It demonstrates exactly what I was saying. We don’t yet see a problem. There isn’t consensus on even that. So, talking about solutions will always be controversial.

    Wake me up when everyone here sees that there’s a problem.

    You want agreement between millions of Americans when we all can’t agree on ‘tastes great’ or ‘less filling’? Ya good luck with that.

    I guess it’ll take mass breakdown of society before we get to that point. That’s cool.

    Even then it won’t happen. Lucky the odds are good we’ll muddle through by the seat of our pants. Nessecity may be the mother of invention but she’s a lazy bitch – we only do the barest minimum we need to do to get by. This seems to be the way of things.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    Yeah, Brian. I guess lots of people here like to believe that burning things doesn’t change the environment. Sigh. The scientists I’ve heard lately agree a lot more with Al Gore than with the power industry.

    But, until we notice massive effects we won’t care. That’s our nature.

    Like I said, wake me up when all my commenters agree there’s a problem. If the smart people in society can’t see there’s a problem then there’s absolutely no hope for change.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    Yeah, Brian. I guess lots of people here like to believe that burning things doesn’t change the environment. Sigh. The scientists I’ve heard lately agree a lot more with Al Gore than with the power industry.

    But, until we notice massive effects we won’t care. That’s our nature.

    Like I said, wake me up when all my commenters agree there’s a problem. If the smart people in society can’t see there’s a problem then there’s absolutely no hope for change.

  • http://www.horsepigcow.com/ Miss Rogue

    Heh. We just spent the weekend at Microsoft offices at 1 Market for Barcamp and a whole bunch of us slept over. Biggest issue: you couldn’t turn off the bloody lights!

    We almost climbed on ladders to unscrew the florescent lightbulbs…why the heck do you need lights on everywhere all weekend long?

  • http://www.horsepigcow.com Miss Rogue

    Heh. We just spent the weekend at Microsoft offices at 1 Market for Barcamp and a whole bunch of us slept over. Biggest issue: you couldn’t turn off the bloody lights!

    We almost climbed on ladders to unscrew the florescent lightbulbs…why the heck do you need lights on everywhere all weekend long?

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    Miss Rogue: the lights where I work go off automatically. There’s switches in the hallways. But not sure about the SF offices.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    Miss Rogue: the lights where I work go off automatically. There’s switches in the hallways. But not sure about the SF offices.

  • Pingback: The Geek of Everything » The Sky Is Falling!

  • http://www.singinghearts.ch/lasik-augenlaser/ Daniela

    James is so right – there are plenty of alternative energy sources available – we just have to finally put some serious funding into that research! It’s a global problem and it takes each and everyone of us with his influence in his small area to solve it. Miss Rogue, that is amazing – maybe Robert can inform the ppl in charge?

  • http://www.singinghearts.ch/lasik-augenlaser/ Daniela

    James is so right – there are plenty of alternative energy sources available – we just have to finally put some serious funding into that research! It’s a global problem and it takes each and everyone of us with his influence in his small area to solve it. Miss Rogue, that is amazing – maybe Robert can inform the ppl in charge?

  • Carolus Holman

    I think everyone should read this:

    http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/

    I also think when a government has been funding this research for 20 years the scientists (if you can call them that) have to come up with something to keep getting paid, it’s true, if you do global warming research you get larger grants.

    I can remember when the media were all up in arms about the ice-age in the 70′s. This time it is different, the government and environmental whacko’s have pulled one over on America, when 10,000 scientists are all being PAID to find something wrong, they will.

    Remember the DDT scare in the 70′s? Millions of people are needlessly dying in many countries because of mosquito borne illnesses. More reading here: http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/nov_2002/why_ddt.htm

    I think we have more to fear from Toxic-Mold than global warming!

  • Carolus Holman

    I think everyone should read this:

    http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/

    I also think when a government has been funding this research for 20 years the scientists (if you can call them that) have to come up with something to keep getting paid, it’s true, if you do global warming research you get larger grants.

    I can remember when the media were all up in arms about the ice-age in the 70′s. This time it is different, the government and environmental whacko’s have pulled one over on America, when 10,000 scientists are all being PAID to find something wrong, they will.

    Remember the DDT scare in the 70′s? Millions of people are needlessly dying in many countries because of mosquito borne illnesses. More reading here: http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/nov_2002/why_ddt.htm

    I think we have more to fear from Toxic-Mold than global warming!

  • http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView James Robertson

    Robert,
    One large scale volcanic eruption can spew more greenhouse gases in a few hours than humanity has in the last few centuries. Have any thoughts on how any changes we make will deal with that little bit of reality?

    Another thing – cost/benefit. The only way to lower emissions is to lower the level of energy use. Lowering energy use will cause economic dislocation, period. Depending on where we are talking about – say, India and China, where people are getting out of grinding poverty – that could be the difference between life and death. There is no consensus on this – when you and Gore can address the very real concerns of the actual climate scientists I linked to (back in my original comment), you let me know. In the meantime, I’d love to hear you explain to the third world that they can’t have our lifestyle, because it’s too harmful. Good luck with that – I hope you get past the lynch mob.

    You don’t have evidence that there’s a problem, nor does Gore. What you have is faith. Heck Robert, millions of Americans have faith that the bible is literal truth – far more than there are enviro-faithful. Their scientific basis is about as solid as yours. Why should I pay you and Gore and more heed than I pay them?

    I’ll bet you a steak dinner at the restaurant of your choosing that we won’t be staring down the barrel of catastrophe 15 years from now. One of us can collect in 15 years.

  • http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView James Robertson

    Robert,
    One large scale volcanic eruption can spew more greenhouse gases in a few hours than humanity has in the last few centuries. Have any thoughts on how any changes we make will deal with that little bit of reality?

    Another thing – cost/benefit. The only way to lower emissions is to lower the level of energy use. Lowering energy use will cause economic dislocation, period. Depending on where we are talking about – say, India and China, where people are getting out of grinding poverty – that could be the difference between life and death. There is no consensus on this – when you and Gore can address the very real concerns of the actual climate scientists I linked to (back in my original comment), you let me know. In the meantime, I’d love to hear you explain to the third world that they can’t have our lifestyle, because it’s too harmful. Good luck with that – I hope you get past the lynch mob.

    You don’t have evidence that there’s a problem, nor does Gore. What you have is faith. Heck Robert, millions of Americans have faith that the bible is literal truth – far more than there are enviro-faithful. Their scientific basis is about as solid as yours. Why should I pay you and Gore and more heed than I pay them?

    I’ll bet you a steak dinner at the restaurant of your choosing that we won’t be staring down the barrel of catastrophe 15 years from now. One of us can collect in 15 years.

  • MYoung

    In today’s WSJ there is an opinion piece by Richard Lindzen, Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, that makes for interesting reading. I particularly like the idea that “lassitude” leads some to conclude that global warming must be at fault for events such as more hurricanes just because people can’t think of anything else that might account for the fact. Lazy thinking leads to false and premature conclusions. I’m reminded of the old joke that claims of new discoveries are probably a sure case of insufficient research of the historical literature. :)

  • MYoung

    In today’s WSJ there is an opinion piece by Richard Lindzen, Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, that makes for interesting reading. I particularly like the idea that “lassitude” leads some to conclude that global warming must be at fault for events such as more hurricanes just because people can’t think of anything else that might account for the fact. Lazy thinking leads to false and premature conclusions. I’m reminded of the old joke that claims of new discoveries are probably a sure case of insufficient research of the historical literature. :)

  • http://robinsnestwebcam.spaces.msn.com/ John V Clifford

    Thanks or raising this issue.

    You are not the only one arguing for higher taxes on gas to reduce our addcition to foreign oil.

    Here is what CEO of AutoNation, the largrsst chain of auto dealers in US is saying:

    To shift behavior, you have to change the consumer’s mindset. The party is over – cheap gasoline is not in our best interests. We have to have a tax at the pump that will justify a whole slew of technologies that are just sitting there if we can make them economical, both for existing engines and new engines. But $3-a-gallon gasoline isn’t going to get it done.

    link at http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/19/news/companies/pluggedin.fortune/index.htm

  • http://robinsnestwebcam.spaces.msn.com John V Clifford

    Thanks or raising this issue.

    You are not the only one arguing for higher taxes on gas to reduce our addcition to foreign oil.

    Here is what CEO of AutoNation, the largrsst chain of auto dealers in US is saying:

    To shift behavior, you have to change the consumer’s mindset. The party is over – cheap gasoline is not in our best interests. We have to have a tax at the pump that will justify a whole slew of technologies that are just sitting there if we can make them economical, both for existing engines and new engines. But $3-a-gallon gasoline isn’t going to get it done.

    link at http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/19/news/companies/pluggedin.fortune/index.htm

  • http://rss.monroe-kc.com/ James M.

    Robert,

    We don’t have to agree that there is a problem. We who believe that we can make a change need to agree on a direction and push the technology in that direction. I don’t care who is “right/wrong” or if they think there is an issue or not. There is an issue, we pay a lot for energy. It’s what drives our economy, our wars, and who has power over our daily lives.

    Again right now we have a chance to change our direction.

  • http://rss.monroe-kc.com James M.

    Robert,

    We don’t have to agree that there is a problem. We who believe that we can make a change need to agree on a direction and push the technology in that direction. I don’t care who is “right/wrong” or if they think there is an issue or not. There is an issue, we pay a lot for energy. It’s what drives our economy, our wars, and who has power over our daily lives.

    Again right now we have a chance to change our direction.

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    Robert,

    And therein lies the difference between a Leftie and a Conservative; we dont need the govt taxing us yet again to figure out the non-problem of Global Warming.. (I seriously dont buy one shred of Gore’s assumptions, cause they sure arent based on any ‘facts’)

    Why cant the private sector do it? Why must politicians be the only people who can save this “doomed” country?

    Granted, only a very, very teeny tiny amount of people believe that humans caused global warming, or can stop it.

    But at least let the private sector do it without more of our taxes – they most certainly do it far cheaper and far quicker than the beaurocrats.

    But I am in agreement about nuclear power; its cleaner and easier to deal with, but alas, lots of lefties are still very afraid of it for some reason.

    Maybe the politicians can be of use there; they can teach the public that nuclear power isnt the big boogey man that the Dems have said it is for the past 3 decades.

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    Robert,

    And therein lies the difference between a Leftie and a Conservative; we dont need the govt taxing us yet again to figure out the non-problem of Global Warming.. (I seriously dont buy one shred of Gore’s assumptions, cause they sure arent based on any ‘facts’)

    Why cant the private sector do it? Why must politicians be the only people who can save this “doomed” country?

    Granted, only a very, very teeny tiny amount of people believe that humans caused global warming, or can stop it.

    But at least let the private sector do it without more of our taxes – they most certainly do it far cheaper and far quicker than the beaurocrats.

    But I am in agreement about nuclear power; its cleaner and easier to deal with, but alas, lots of lefties are still very afraid of it for some reason.

    Maybe the politicians can be of use there; they can teach the public that nuclear power isnt the big boogey man that the Dems have said it is for the past 3 decades.

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    James Robertson said,” I’ll bet you a steak dinner at the restaurant of your choosing that we won’t be staring down the barrel of catastrophe 15 years from now. One of us can collect in 15 years.”

    well, Big Al says we’re all dead in 10 years anyway… so, 15 years is not even in the cards for us at this point… better make that steak dinner reservation much earlier… :-P

    Robert, I know you are miffed that the majority of comments on your blog arent buying this issue but you have to remember, a lot of us do remember the Coming Ice Age that was headed our way, then Global Dimming.

    Gore is not a climatogist, he’s not a scientist, he’s a politician who just cant figure out how to stay relevant since he cant be President. At least acknowledge the perspective from which Gore is coming from.

    The “facts” that most climatologists can agree on is that the surface of the sun is hotter right now… but since we dont have recorded meterological information for the past million years, I would say its anyone’s guess as to what warming issues we are experiencing right now.

    But its also summer as well – which, as far as I can recall in my own 42 years… is hot. But again, I’m no climatologist..

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    James Robertson said,” I’ll bet you a steak dinner at the restaurant of your choosing that we won’t be staring down the barrel of catastrophe 15 years from now. One of us can collect in 15 years.”

    well, Big Al says we’re all dead in 10 years anyway… so, 15 years is not even in the cards for us at this point… better make that steak dinner reservation much earlier… :-P

    Robert, I know you are miffed that the majority of comments on your blog arent buying this issue but you have to remember, a lot of us do remember the Coming Ice Age that was headed our way, then Global Dimming.

    Gore is not a climatogist, he’s not a scientist, he’s a politician who just cant figure out how to stay relevant since he cant be President. At least acknowledge the perspective from which Gore is coming from.

    The “facts” that most climatologists can agree on is that the surface of the sun is hotter right now… but since we dont have recorded meterological information for the past million years, I would say its anyone’s guess as to what warming issues we are experiencing right now.

    But its also summer as well – which, as far as I can recall in my own 42 years… is hot. But again, I’m no climatologist..

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    And, of course, you somehow believe that it’s impossible to store the stuff for a few years while the system comes into play. Any real reason, or do you just want to be a prick?

    Okay Gatt, how about your back yard. it’s safe, right? We’ll just bury it in your yard. Hell, why bury it, it’s so safe, should be able to just throw it in a shed out back, right? And if it takes ten, twenty years, well, that’s fine with you right? if you move, no problem, we’ll make sure it follows you.

    Because after all, it’s safe.

    And of course, we can easily afford to spend the billions to replace all fossil fuel power generation in this country with nukes. We’re just FLUSH with money right now at the federal level.

    Just exactly what world DO you live in where we’ve got billions to spend on this crap?

    Plastics, aspirin, chemical uses of hydrocarbons, those can’t be fixed right now, not in a reasonable way (in theory, with enough energy we can reproduce them from dirt, but it’s nowhere near feasible). Good thing neither you or I ever mentioned them or a possible solution to them before your random shotgun attack, and that they make up a vast minority of our actual energy use.

    It’s a good thing you took a look into the years of research into starch – based plastics. Of course, that gets no funding, because who suffers if we no longer need oil for plastic?

    Hmm. Not the people using plastic.

    Not the farmers.

    Oh right, the oil companies. Who has huge amounts of money to pay off governments to ensure that non-petroleum plastic sources are starved for funds? Why, your bestest pals, the oil companies.

    and since we can’t easily replace petroleum based plastic, well why bother, right?

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    And, of course, you somehow believe that it’s impossible to store the stuff for a few years while the system comes into play. Any real reason, or do you just want to be a prick?

    Okay Gatt, how about your back yard. it’s safe, right? We’ll just bury it in your yard. Hell, why bury it, it’s so safe, should be able to just throw it in a shed out back, right? And if it takes ten, twenty years, well, that’s fine with you right? if you move, no problem, we’ll make sure it follows you.

    Because after all, it’s safe.

    And of course, we can easily afford to spend the billions to replace all fossil fuel power generation in this country with nukes. We’re just FLUSH with money right now at the federal level.

    Just exactly what world DO you live in where we’ve got billions to spend on this crap?

    Plastics, aspirin, chemical uses of hydrocarbons, those can’t be fixed right now, not in a reasonable way (in theory, with enough energy we can reproduce them from dirt, but it’s nowhere near feasible). Good thing neither you or I ever mentioned them or a possible solution to them before your random shotgun attack, and that they make up a vast minority of our actual energy use.

    It’s a good thing you took a look into the years of research into starch – based plastics. Of course, that gets no funding, because who suffers if we no longer need oil for plastic?

    Hmm. Not the people using plastic.

    Not the farmers.

    Oh right, the oil companies. Who has huge amounts of money to pay off governments to ensure that non-petroleum plastic sources are starved for funds? Why, your bestest pals, the oil companies.

    and since we can’t easily replace petroleum based plastic, well why bother, right?

  • MattA

    Robert, the car industry already has more efficient engines, but they don’t think there is a market in the US for them. I have a Saab diesel (gets about 38 miles to a US gallon) I’ve just looked on Saab US and they don’t sell this model, it’s up to you to ask for it.

    The reason I have a diesel is partly because it’s a company car (company car tax is based on CO2 emissions, therefore most company cars in the UK are diesel), but also that recently fuel in the UK cost £0.99 per UK litre, this works out at about $6-7 per US gallon (is that incentive enough for you?)

    I visited the US earlier this year a drove a Chevy Blazer, (I’m not sure if this is a typical SUV but) it had a 4.2 litre engine and was slower than my diesel, it appears to me that you have the worst of both worlds poor performance and poor fuel economy.

    Diesels whether we like it or not are the future. Even Audi know this, this is why they entered a diesel in the Sebring 12Hr and Le Mans 24Hr endurance races and won both easily!!

    That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have some 5 litre v12 if I could afford, but it better do 0-60 in under 4 secs and top out at over 200 mph, otherwise what is the point???

    Cheers
    Matt

  • MattA

    Robert, the car industry already has more efficient engines, but they don’t think there is a market in the US for them. I have a Saab diesel (gets about 38 miles to a US gallon) I’ve just looked on Saab US and they don’t sell this model, it’s up to you to ask for it.

    The reason I have a diesel is partly because it’s a company car (company car tax is based on CO2 emissions, therefore most company cars in the UK are diesel), but also that recently fuel in the UK cost £0.99 per UK litre, this works out at about $6-7 per US gallon (is that incentive enough for you?)

    I visited the US earlier this year a drove a Chevy Blazer, (I’m not sure if this is a typical SUV but) it had a 4.2 litre engine and was slower than my diesel, it appears to me that you have the worst of both worlds poor performance and poor fuel economy.

    Diesels whether we like it or not are the future. Even Audi know this, this is why they entered a diesel in the Sebring 12Hr and Le Mans 24Hr endurance races and won both easily!!

    That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have some 5 litre v12 if I could afford, but it better do 0-60 in under 4 secs and top out at over 200 mph, otherwise what is the point???

    Cheers
    Matt

  • Henning Pedersen

    Robert is oh-so-right. The US of A produces 30% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions with only 5% of the world’s population. Some thing has GOT to change, and it better happen fast. The polar ice caps are already melting at an alarming rate.

    Us europeans are paying about a buck fifty per litre of gas right now, roughly equivalent to 6 dollars per gallon. Yet we have (Western Europe does, anyway) a higher standard of living and better social support. The reason? Simple, really. The US spends too much money on its military – money which could’ve been used for environmental subsidies and research into alternative energy sources.

  • Henning Pedersen

    Robert is oh-so-right. The US of A produces 30% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions with only 5% of the world’s population. Some thing has GOT to change, and it better happen fast. The polar ice caps are already melting at an alarming rate.

    Us europeans are paying about a buck fifty per litre of gas right now, roughly equivalent to 6 dollars per gallon. Yet we have (Western Europe does, anyway) a higher standard of living and better social support. The reason? Simple, really. The US spends too much money on its military – money which could’ve been used for environmental subsidies and research into alternative energy sources.

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    Considering how much a friend of mine is paying to fuel his car, (a VW diesel) I’m really thinking about getting one. He’s using a mix of 50-50 “diesel” fuel and old french fry oil, costs him about a buck a gallon at the moment.

    It’s some extra work on his part, but every time he cruises by a gas station, he just laughs.

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    Considering how much a friend of mine is paying to fuel his car, (a VW diesel) I’m really thinking about getting one. He’s using a mix of 50-50 “diesel” fuel and old french fry oil, costs him about a buck a gallon at the moment.

    It’s some extra work on his part, but every time he cruises by a gas station, he just laughs.

  • http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView James Robertson

    “Us europeans are paying about a buck fifty per litre of gas right now, roughly equivalent to 6 dollars per gallon. Yet we have (Western Europe does, anyway) a higher standard of living and better social support.”

    Hmm. I’ve been to Europe, more than once. I live in a middle class neighborhood here in the US, and I have over 3000 sq feet of living space (never mind my basement). I have gas that’s scads cheaper than what you pay for (and I get 35+ mpg – I drive a small sedan). The unemployment rate in this area is under 4%, and it’s under 5% in the US as a whole. In Germany and France, it’s up around 10%. As to health care, I can get an appointment whenever I need one – I pay $15 per visit, my prescriptions are inexpensive, and a referral I recently got to a cardiologist (no problems, thank goodness) cost me nothing (directly – my insurance picked it up). To see the cardiologist? I made an appointment when it was convenient

    My parents? My Mom worked as a travel agent, my Dad as a teacher. They are retired, and live 1/4 mile from a beautiful beach – check my blog in the “travel” category for some of the pictures I took of it. They can get appointments for a doctor whenever they need them.

    Explain to me again how your standard of living is better? With waiting lines for medical care, fewer cars per family (harder to travel), smaller homes, higher taxes, and more expensive fuel.

  • http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView James Robertson

    “Us europeans are paying about a buck fifty per litre of gas right now, roughly equivalent to 6 dollars per gallon. Yet we have (Western Europe does, anyway) a higher standard of living and better social support.”

    Hmm. I’ve been to Europe, more than once. I live in a middle class neighborhood here in the US, and I have over 3000 sq feet of living space (never mind my basement). I have gas that’s scads cheaper than what you pay for (and I get 35+ mpg – I drive a small sedan). The unemployment rate in this area is under 4%, and it’s under 5% in the US as a whole. In Germany and France, it’s up around 10%. As to health care, I can get an appointment whenever I need one – I pay $15 per visit, my prescriptions are inexpensive, and a referral I recently got to a cardiologist (no problems, thank goodness) cost me nothing (directly – my insurance picked it up). To see the cardiologist? I made an appointment when it was convenient

    My parents? My Mom worked as a travel agent, my Dad as a teacher. They are retired, and live 1/4 mile from a beautiful beach – check my blog in the “travel” category for some of the pictures I took of it. They can get appointments for a doctor whenever they need them.

    Explain to me again how your standard of living is better? With waiting lines for medical care, fewer cars per family (harder to travel), smaller homes, higher taxes, and more expensive fuel.

  • gattsuru

    Spent nuclear waste containers emit neglible amounts of radiation (at eight feet, comparible to background levels). The real danger of them (and the reason they’re such a pain to put away) is that they must be prevented from entering groundwater or food sources for a long time. Short term, and in containers that can take a train impact without denting, I wouldn’t worry much if there was one sitting in my back yard, other than from an aesthitic or property value viewpoint.

    I honestly hadn’t heard of the starch-based oil immitation. If it’s more economically and environmentally feasible than taking care of oil shale or drilling US soil, I’m all for it – we’ve got too much damned corn in the US as it is, and it would certainly allow us to give up on fossil fuels.

    Hedding, your numbers seem off. The highest value I’ve seen credibly attributed to the United States in the last year is 25% of the world’s CO2. That’s not that far off from the EU’s ‘share’, and America isn’t that far from the EU in terms of population (and provides a much higher share of the global GDP).

  • gattsuru

    Spent nuclear waste containers emit neglible amounts of radiation (at eight feet, comparible to background levels). The real danger of them (and the reason they’re such a pain to put away) is that they must be prevented from entering groundwater or food sources for a long time. Short term, and in containers that can take a train impact without denting, I wouldn’t worry much if there was one sitting in my back yard, other than from an aesthitic or property value viewpoint.

    I honestly hadn’t heard of the starch-based oil immitation. If it’s more economically and environmentally feasible than taking care of oil shale or drilling US soil, I’m all for it – we’ve got too much damned corn in the US as it is, and it would certainly allow us to give up on fossil fuels.

    Hedding, your numbers seem off. The highest value I’ve seen credibly attributed to the United States in the last year is 25% of the world’s CO2. That’s not that far off from the EU’s ‘share’, and America isn’t that far from the EU in terms of population (and provides a much higher share of the global GDP).

  • http://ceejayoz.com/ ceejayoz

    “Explain to me again how your standard of living is better? With waiting lines for medical care, fewer cars per family (harder to travel), smaller homes, higher taxes, and more expensive fuel.”

    This speaks to ignorance of the European lifestyle.

    Waiting lines for medical care are a myth, and ignore the fact that the vast majority of Americans have to wait for their specialist care as well. My fiancée took three months to get into her first neurologists appointment. Fewer cars per family would mean harder to travel only if Europe didn’t have a far superior public transportation system – you can take high speed rail just about everywhere. I personally prefer smaller homes, the higher taxes help with amenities like cheaper health care and public transport, and fuel isn’t that much of a concern when you can take the train.

  • http://ceejayoz.com/ ceejayoz

    “Explain to me again how your standard of living is better? With waiting lines for medical care, fewer cars per family (harder to travel), smaller homes, higher taxes, and more expensive fuel.”

    This speaks to ignorance of the European lifestyle.

    Waiting lines for medical care are a myth, and ignore the fact that the vast majority of Americans have to wait for their specialist care as well. My fiancée took three months to get into her first neurologists appointment. Fewer cars per family would mean harder to travel only if Europe didn’t have a far superior public transportation system – you can take high speed rail just about everywhere. I personally prefer smaller homes, the higher taxes help with amenities like cheaper health care and public transport, and fuel isn’t that much of a concern when you can take the train.

  • http://www.manuelclement.com/ Mano

    BIODIESEL!

    . Get a VW Jetta, Golf, or Beetle… the T.D.I. version

    (or if you are in europe… *any* diesel car)

    . Fill it up with Biodiesel, equivalent cost to regular fossil diesel

    The difference?

    . 50 MPG (between 40 and 50 on these VW models)
    . Made from soybeans! (in the US)
    . 90% cleaner
    . only release CO2 that soy beans got from the atmosphere in the first place (recycle!)
    . Renewable every year!
    . if you have time, make your own (I don’t)!

    There is NO CATCH.
    As simple as that.

    Been driving that stuff for 7 months, loving it.

    -mano

    ps: funny thing is, my cousin who has a farm in France said that it is *illegal* to use Biodiesel over there… pretty happy to be here IMHO… Illegal!?

  • http://www.manuelclement.com Mano

    BIODIESEL!

    . Get a VW Jetta, Golf, or Beetle… the T.D.I. version

    (or if you are in europe… *any* diesel car)

    . Fill it up with Biodiesel, equivalent cost to regular fossil diesel

    The difference?

    . 50 MPG (between 40 and 50 on these VW models)
    . Made from soybeans! (in the US)
    . 90% cleaner
    . only release CO2 that soy beans got from the atmosphere in the first place (recycle!)
    . Renewable every year!
    . if you have time, make your own (I don’t)!

    There is NO CATCH.
    As simple as that.

    Been driving that stuff for 7 months, loving it.

    -mano

    ps: funny thing is, my cousin who has a farm in France said that it is *illegal* to use Biodiesel over there… pretty happy to be here IMHO… Illegal!?

  • Henning Pedersen

    James – what an excellent attemt at circumventing the actual point of my post, which was this:

    The US produces 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions, with 5% of the world’s population.

    If you don’t see this as a problem, you are sadly PART of the problem. I really don’t care how big your house is (mine is about the same size). We can buy “extra” health insurance just like you americans can – but our *base* coverage includes everything from non-vital surgery (early stage cancer, facial plastic surgery) to life-saving surgery and GP visits. I pay $20 to see a doctor. If I total up more than $200 per year in medical expenses out-of-pocket, the government pays the rest.

    I can’t really explain any better than this – my country, Norway, has a life expectancy of 79.54 years, the US has 77.85 years.

    We have the same unemployment rate as you – 4.2%. How do you fare in supporting those who are unemployed? How about those who have a life-changing accident and can’t win through in the legal system?

    We have a FREE university system, including several very prominent technical colleges. Sure, there are private alternatives, but they are generally inferior.

    But all this is futile, I suspect. The point is – if you want to prioritize the climate, something else has got to go. If you don’t want to prioritize the climate, well, I guess you’ll keep becoming more and more dependent on foreign oil – we’ll happily sell you a few billion barrels a year.

  • Henning Pedersen

    James – what an excellent attemt at circumventing the actual point of my post, which was this:

    The US produces 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions, with 5% of the world’s population.

    If you don’t see this as a problem, you are sadly PART of the problem. I really don’t care how big your house is (mine is about the same size). We can buy “extra” health insurance just like you americans can – but our *base* coverage includes everything from non-vital surgery (early stage cancer, facial plastic surgery) to life-saving surgery and GP visits. I pay $20 to see a doctor. If I total up more than $200 per year in medical expenses out-of-pocket, the government pays the rest.

    I can’t really explain any better than this – my country, Norway, has a life expectancy of 79.54 years, the US has 77.85 years.

    We have the same unemployment rate as you – 4.2%. How do you fare in supporting those who are unemployed? How about those who have a life-changing accident and can’t win through in the legal system?

    We have a FREE university system, including several very prominent technical colleges. Sure, there are private alternatives, but they are generally inferior.

    But all this is futile, I suspect. The point is – if you want to prioritize the climate, something else has got to go. If you don’t want to prioritize the climate, well, I guess you’ll keep becoming more and more dependent on foreign oil – we’ll happily sell you a few billion barrels a year.

  • http://www.nortypig.com/ nortypig
  • http://www.nortypig.com nortypig
  • Lynn Eriksen

    Robert, here’s a link to the most interesting Nuclear project on the planet:

    http://www.iter.org/

    It’s a production scale Fusion reaction prototype under development.

  • Lynn Eriksen

    Robert, here’s a link to the most interesting Nuclear project on the planet:

    http://www.iter.org/

    It’s a production scale Fusion reaction prototype under development.

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    for post 70…

    Americans wait for how long for specialists? Maybe neurosurgeons are a scarcity in your girlfriend’s neighborhood, but on average, not overall.

    It would also depend on what type of insurance coverage she has… but thats a whole other issue to debate.

    America is where the best and the brightest train for medical careers, and where most people want to come for top notch medical care. My in laws are Canadians and I cannot count the number of people in their town who pay for their own care in the states, because socialized medicine in Canada is so poor.

    My father in law went to a major US hospital to be taken off all of the unecessary prescriptions his canadian doctors had him on. It probably saved his life and if he could live in America and pay for his own care, he would do it in a heartbeat.

  • http://lauriblog.wordpress.com/ Lauri

    for post 70…

    Americans wait for how long for specialists? Maybe neurosurgeons are a scarcity in your girlfriend’s neighborhood, but on average, not overall.

    It would also depend on what type of insurance coverage she has… but thats a whole other issue to debate.

    America is where the best and the brightest train for medical careers, and where most people want to come for top notch medical care. My in laws are Canadians and I cannot count the number of people in their town who pay for their own care in the states, because socialized medicine in Canada is so poor.

    My father in law went to a major US hospital to be taken off all of the unecessary prescriptions his canadian doctors had him on. It probably saved his life and if he could live in America and pay for his own care, he would do it in a heartbeat.

  • Pingback: Auto Parts Resources

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →