Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Why are you Green??? what do you dislike about the green Movement?

shovel · 02-25-2009, 07:12 PM

I'm not green, but my lifestyle has always been lagom.. "enough" has always been enough for me and generally what saves energy saves money, what reduces waste saves money. It just seems like the right thing to do on its own obvious merits.

What I hate is nearly everyone "green"'s denial that the solution to man made problems is to reduce man.

If we are to admit that we are inseparable from nature, then anything we do is natural.. so there's no reason to care one way or another. To tell another man he can't pollute is like telling a lion he can't roar, you know?

But if we are to declare that we are a separate entity from nature somehow, then we must acknowledge that what harm we do is in direct proportion to how many of us are doing it. 100% of everyone on earth could drive a hummer everywhere with no impact on the earth's atmosphere.... if there were only a million of them. Dig? But we have >6 billion people and it shows. The solution to man made problems is to reduce man. Until we do that, we may as well be shoveling sand against the tide with a teaspoon.

I don't have children. I have ensured surgically that I can't have children. My net impact on the earth with my <20 mile per gallon SUV is microscopic compared to someone who rides a moped, has kids who ride mopeds, and whose kids' kids ride mopeds ad infinitum. Frankly I don't want to hear any environmental snobbery from anyone who has made more humans because there's nothing they can do to be greener than my terminal bud of the family tree.

Another thing about "greenies" that infuriates me is their refusal to accept partial solutions. As an example, ethanol to fuel internal combustion engines is often contested because it isn't as low-impact as solar presumably. No duh! Ethanol is not a complete solution to the fossil fuels problem - but it's a bridge in the right direction and it's one of the easiest ones to implement - because it distributes, pumps, and burns in every piece of infrastructure we already have. Nobody needs to buy a whole new car and throw away their old one, any gasoline car can be retrofit at a negligible cost - a cost that becomes far lower if mass acceptance breeds mass production. "Green" folks who oppose partial moves in the right direction only because they're incomplete... they make me spittin' mad for sure.

02-25-2009, 07:12 PM	#34 (permalink)
shovel Master EcoModder Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Phoenix Posts: 593 Thanks: 106 Thanked 114 Times in 72 Posts	I'm not green, but my lifestyle has always been lagom.. "enough" has always been enough for me and generally what saves energy saves money, what reduces waste saves money. It just seems like the right thing to do on its own obvious merits. What I hate is nearly everyone "green"'s denial that the solution to man made problems is to reduce man. If we are to admit that we are inseparable from nature, then anything we do is natural.. so there's no reason to care one way or another. To tell another man he can't pollute is like telling a lion he can't roar, you know? But if we are to declare that we are a separate entity from nature somehow, then we must acknowledge that what harm we do is in direct proportion to how many of us are doing it. 100% of everyone on earth could drive a hummer everywhere with no impact on the earth's atmosphere.... if there were only a million of them. Dig? But we have >6 billion people and it shows. The solution to man made problems is to reduce man. Until we do that, we may as well be shoveling sand against the tide with a teaspoon. I don't have children. I have ensured surgically that I can't have children. My net impact on the earth with my <20 mile per gallon SUV is microscopic compared to someone who rides a moped, has kids who ride mopeds, and whose kids' kids ride mopeds ad infinitum. Frankly I don't want to hear any environmental snobbery from anyone who has made more humans because there's nothing they can do to be greener than my terminal bud of the family tree. Another thing about "greenies" that infuriates me is their refusal to accept partial solutions. As an example, ethanol to fuel internal combustion engines is often contested because it isn't as low-impact as solar presumably. No duh! Ethanol is not a complete solution to the fossil fuels problem - but it's a bridge in the right direction and it's one of the easiest ones to implement - because it distributes, pumps, and burns in every piece of infrastructure we already have. Nobody needs to buy a whole new car and throw away their old one, any gasoline car can be retrofit at a negligible cost - a cost that becomes far lower if mass acceptance breeds mass production. "Green" folks who oppose partial moves in the right direction only because they're incomplete... they make me spittin' mad for sure.