We'll regret not caring more about the planet

BartenderElite said:
And that's 100% truth. Future generations will look back & lament how this wasn't out #1 priority. They'll talk about how the warning signs were all around us, and we just ignored them: mass extinction, loss of habitat, droughts, storms, polar melt. They'll ask how we could have possibly thought any of this was sustainable. They'll think we were shortsighted, and stupid.

Most of all, they'll wonder how in the world it all became so political, so fast. How it could have possibly been a right/left thing, when all of us have a stake in the outcome.

Our future won't be pleasant. It may (or may not) be survivable - but it's all very predictable right now. And all of the other issues that we debate here, day in & day out? Pretty meaningless if we don't take care of our home.
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At a high level I think many have an understanding of "taking care of the planet" but that can also mean very different things to different people. I mean ultimately wouldn't no people living be best for the planet? Or if one believes over population is the problem somehow forcing a global slowdown of births (similar to the China one child policy). Of course you have developing countries who look at developed countries with a certain level of disdain in regards to demands they can't use the means we did to grow our economies. On a global level how would any of this be implemented/enforced?
 
cawacko said:
At a high level I think many have an understanding of "taking care of the planet" but that can also mean very different things to different people. I mean ultimately wouldn't no people living be best for the planet? Or if one believes over population is the problem somehow forcing a global slowdown of births (similar to the China one child policy). Of course you have developing countries who look at developed countries with a certain level of disdain in regards to demands they can't use the means we did to grow our economies. On a global level how would any of this be implemented/enforced?
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These are all great points. Population is really the crux of the issue - but like you said, how is it possible to enforce any curbs on that?

I'm not optimistic, for some of the reasons you listed above.
 
BartenderElite said:
And that's 100% truth. Future generations will look back & lament how this wasn't out #1 priority. They'll talk about how the warning signs were all around us, and we just ignored them: mass extinction, loss of habitat, droughts, storms, polar melt. They'll ask how we could have possibly thought any of this was sustainable. They'll think we were shortsighted, and stupid.

Most of all, they'll wonder how in the world it all became so political, so fast. How it could have possibly been a right/left thing, when all of us have a stake in the outcome.

Our future won't be pleasant. It may (or may not) be survivable - but it's all very predictable right now. And all of the other issues that we debate here, day in & day out? Pretty meaningless if we don't take care of our home.
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And when they look back at all the late '50s/early '60s science fiction shows, they'll wonder why writers knew about the problems, but the so called intelligent world leaders did not.
 
Stone said:
I am a righty. Here is what I did in just the last few years before there was even a gas crisis.

One of our cars is a hybrid. Gets around 47 miles to the gallon.

I added insulation AND put a new roof on our home.

I put in a new high efficiency furnace.
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Why?
 
Stone said:
Well,......you could buy a horse and sell your car,...or walk even. You could light your home with candles, not have AC. There are a lot of things YOU personally can do. Can you tell me what YOU personally are doing?
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He would rather whine than make substantive changes in his life.
 
I've brought up this issue from different angles about a dozen times on this board. It's meant to be a non-partisan discussion. I'm not blaming any ideology.

But conservative responses are always exactly the same.
 
BartenderElite said:
And that's 100% truth. Future generations will look back & lament how this wasn't out #1 priority. They'll talk about how the warning signs were all around us, and we just ignored them: mass extinction, loss of habitat, droughts, storms, polar melt. They'll ask how we could have possibly thought any of this was sustainable. They'll think we were shortsighted, and stupid.

Most of all, they'll wonder how in the world it all became so political, so fast. How it could have possibly been a right/left thing, when all of us have a stake in the outcome.

Our future won't be pleasant. It may (or may not) be survivable - but it's all very predictable right now. And all of the other issues that we debate here, day in & day out? Pretty meaningless if we don't take care of our home.
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People who live in America use more energy per person than any other country. You could oppose illegal immigration to America.
 
Stone said:
Oh ok. But you DO need to see more people TALKING but doing nothing. Well,...different strokes for different folks I guess.
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What did Einstein say...something like if you have an hour to solve a problem spend 50 minutes planning and learning and talking... 10 minutes doing.
 
The problem is that we should have been learning planning and talking about the health of the planet at least back 70-80 years ago when it was obvious that we had a problem. We did not do that. And now we are so deeply fucked.
 
BartenderElite said:
T.A., I think your posts are often good & interesting. But that's a weird one.
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Not really. You stated you wanted to live your life "minimally," which is exactly what the Unabomber did. Yes, the fucker was insane, but he lived in a tiny cabin without any modern amenities because he thought that was the way to go.

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Yea, the guy lived in what amounted to a shed without heat or electricity. And, yea, it was crude and rude.
 
BartenderElite said:
I've brought up this issue from different angles about a dozen times on this board. It's meant to be a non-partisan discussion. I'm not blaming any ideology.

But conservative responses are always exactly the same.
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We can definitely talk about it from a domestic perspective, because we have a lot more control over that, but ultimately it’s a global issue and not one we have total control over. And there’s a level of arbitrariness to what a “healed planet” would even look like.

Usually leaders would say this is where we are, this is our goal and here’s what’s going to be required of you to get there. And then you need to get buy in. Again, on a global level that’s not an easy task
 
T. A. Gardner said:
Not really. You stated you wanted to live your life "minimally," which is exactly what the Unabomber did. Yes, the fucker was insane, but he lived in a tiny cabin without any modern amenities because he thought that was the way to go.

Yea, the guy lived in what amounted to a shed without heat or electricity. And, yea, it was crude and rude.
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Ted Kaczynski had a lot of important things to say, but we as a society were not interesting in listening.
 
cawacko said:
We can definitely talk about it from a domestic perspective, because we have a lot more control over that, but ultimately it’s a global issue and not one we have total control over. And there’s a level of arbitrariness to what a “healed planet” would even look like.

Usually leaders would say this is where we are, this is our goal and here’s what’s going to be required of you to get there. And then you need to get buy in. Again, on a global level that’s not an easy task
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It's actually impossible. The people who make decisions are politicians. Politicians are about appearance, not substance. They'll pass "token" measures, but nothing that will have an impact.

Kyoto was almost impossible - but even if every country adhered to it, it wouldn't amount to much.

We're sort of programmed to not react until the worst is upon us.
 
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