Plan B 3.0

[Fudog1138]

Good morning,

Hey I have a huge request of all of you. I'm totaly new here and I am sure that it is quite presumptuous of me to ask, but I feel I must. For starters I am in no way employed by nor do I lobby in Washington for the book that I'm going to ask you to buy or download for free. Sometimes cash is tight, I'm no stranger to that song.

Plan B 3.0
Mobilizing to save civilization by Lester R. Brown
It's a must read for literate people and a must hear for those of us who are not.
Its not a light hearted read, kind of like reading a book on the holocaust or a book on Rowanda. But the guy is just telling the truth.
Don't eat spicey and read the first 50 pages. You may get sick, but again its really worth either picking up (I still like books in my hand) or the site is offering the book for download for free.
Anyhoozle. I bought it from the sight directly, yah I know mail, logistics, fuel etc.. but I did.
Here's the link to the site where you can download podcasts (my commute distraction of choice) and download the book.

Please be good, use your manors, eat your vegtables and don't talk to strangers. Oh wait, you aren't my kids. Anyway Please read.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/Contents.htm

[bennelson]

Hi,

I just reserved a copy of the book through my local library's web page.

In general, I love documentries and books on nature and enviromentalism. However, so many of them are terribly depressing! This is going to happen! That is going to collapse!

I don't like the way they focus on the negative instead of the positive. I know in general, it's just setting up for the later part of the film or book, but it is still hard to get past.

I started really trying to focus on positives the last time gas prices spiked up. You can't do anything about the price of gas, but you can build your own electric vehicle and drive that!

Looking forward to the book, but will probably skip the first few chapters.

Tonight I start reading "From the Fryer to the fuel tank" by Joshua Tickell.

[AndrewJ]

Sounds like some books that I've been reading of late.

I'm not too optimistic as to our chances (on a wide scale) to come out of these impending crises in decent shape. However, I believe that it's important for each of us (those of us whom are aware of the potential for trouble) to do as much as we can to insulate ourselves as much as possible from the troubles that lie ahead.

On a widespread level, I really doubt the political will to demand the radical amount of change that is necessary in an adequate amount of time.
On an individual level, this is entirely possible, we just have to have the will and the foresight to make the change. That way, when the $h!t hits the fan, we'll be able to help everyone else through the transition.

[Fudog1138]

Your right. Its got to start individually at first. The steps that I've taken so far are:
-My girlfriend and I have instituted mandatory recycling in our house.
-We've gone from 6-7 bags a week down to 1.5. -
-I've talked my girlfriends mon and sister into dropping off their recycleables once per week. -
-I'm trying to talk my ex-wife into doing the same. I get my kids 15 days out of the month, so I can grab the bags from there. She just has to seperate.
-My buddy is getting married in a few weeks. I bought him and his fiance a 4 pack of the higher quality CF bulbs, not the ones that look like they light mental hostpitals :-)

As for my 80 mile commute? I came here for help. I have been averaging 35 mpg's in a car that is supposed to get 23 mpg's. I learned driving techniques from you great people and bought a scan guage to back the data up. I can't over inflate tires right now. Its 10 degrees outside with plenty of ice and snow. I run all 4 at 40 psi. But need traction right now.

-I replaced 900 watts worth of incandecent lights with CF
-Turned down my water tank by 5 degrees
-Turn the furnace down to 60 when we're gone, and no higher than 68 when we're home. I'm going to call my land lord and ask to put ceiling fans in 3 rooms. Doubt he will mind the upgrade. But they usually pull no more than 90 watts on high and are a heck of a lot more efficient than box fans.

So that's this year so far. When I can afford to buy my own land, I'm going to have have a factory built house thrown on top of a basement, then I'll put in a garden and solar bank and hopefully go off the grid.

[tasdrouille]

In the end, it's all about the money. Consumers in general want cheap convenience. So the premium for environmental products isn't worth much when there is a cheaper and more convenient alternative.

This is why I cheer every time the price of gas goes up.

If there is big enough of a financial incentive not to use polluting technologies, there will be a massive switch towards clean technologies.

At some point in time this shift will happen as diverse non renewable resources will become scarce.

The only real question is can our planet handle it till then?

[Fudog1138]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

In the end, it's all about the money. Consumers in general want cheap convenience. So the premium for environmental products isn't worth much when there is a cheaper and more convenient alternative.

This is why I cheer every time the price of gas goes up.

If there is big enough of a financial incentive not to use polluting technologies, there will be a massive switch towards clean technologies.

At some point in time this shift will happen as diverse non renewable resources will become scarce.

The only real question is can our planet handle it till then?

I don't know buddy. Glaciers are melting faster than we had expected. When they dry up, the water table drops and the land becomes to dry to plant crops. That's a lot of hungry people in China.
On the other side of it, if chunks of ice as big as Great Britain keep dropping off, then water levels will rise. A good percentage of Manhattan goes under water, New Orleans is gone, good portion of Florida. Thats just in the states. Hong Kong, Taipei, Japan, Indonesia and so on.
The US had around 100,000 refuges from hurricane Katrina. We were absolutley sacked by it and still have not recovered from the rise in crime and financial cost. That was 100,000 displaced people. If the oceans rise 40-60 feet, we could have 600 million. Is the EU, Canada, US, Australia, Japan and UK going to foot that bill?
Fat chance.
People are going to get hungry. It could be a bloody mess, literally.

But... Life is good. It really is. We've got to keep our chins up. The term ecowarrior exists for a reason. I for one won't stop until my breath does. Then I'm going to try and haunt policy makers if the afterlife lets me :-)

[WaxyChicken]

^ you're an optimist.
you're forgetting about the North Atlantic Current - the great water cooler of the Atlantic Ocean.

I prefer to be a pessimist, this way if things don't work out then you're prepared for it.
and if they do work out then you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The difference that us as single individuals make when it comes to changing the outlook of or lifetimes is astoundingly minute. Only by creating a large social drive - which can be done from just a few people and hard work - can lead to a true change of the forthcoming events.

Change would have to scale up from the already exzist ant , but collectively.

A mere twenty people would be sufficient to change the mentality and demeanor of a medium sized town. A single medium sized town could influence a city as large as New York City (if in close enough proximity) and from there propel to a state level and then a national level. The fault with any of our nations is not that there are insufficient numbers, but rather that the numbers aren't localized and organized enough to effect the social changes that are required of us. This is how changes on a social level have occurred throughout history.

I'd be happy to elaborate but I'm recalling the "posting and you" thread and so I'll merely stop rambling for now.

[Fudog1138]

No rambling bud. I enjoyed your reply. Your right I am an optimist. I've found it to be a common Buddhist trait. Well, that and the love for sarcasm and bad jokes. I don't know why that is, it’s just what I've observed. I've got friends, who are essentially monks, that will darn near pee their robes laughing at some of the world’s corniest jokes.

Anywho. The way I see things is this. In the very beginning of it all, there was nuthin. Ten to the thirty second power (10v32) later the universe was the size of a basketball. So, imagine what you can do in a day.
So can one individual make a difference? Yes. But I agree with your logic and process. Imagine what two can do. Increase that and boy oh boy. It then becomes, “what can we do in a day”.

Its sites like this that help educate and essentially pollinate information.

20 years ago I was tricking out my cars for as much horsepower as I could. Now... With this sites guidance I trick out my car for the best fuel mileage possible. How’s that for a philosophical change?

So I believe the change in awareness is in motion. Is it fast enough? No, I have people riding my bumper when I’m in the far right truck lane driving 55-60. They flash their lights, honk their horns and tell me their IQ’s by showing me the number one with their middle fingers several times. The speed limit minimum is 50, maximum is 70 and they have 3 lanes to choose from.
So yah, in the bigger picture, things could be going better, but oatmeal is better than no meal.