gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 10:57 AM
Original message |
how many "other people" must... |
|
we the people kill to keep our getmo' oil-consuming society running? how many must we sacrifice on the altar of the suv and plastic fences? how many duers are actually willing to deprive themselves of some american so-called standards of living to stop the slaughter? i find it humorous when a country containing 5% of the worlds population and uses over 40% of the fossil fuel presents itself as a moral leader of any sort. we are all a bunch of self-righteous asses. as the oil supply shrinks, this problem will worsen. will the american people, for one time, not be the greediest of all?
|
phaed
(26 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:03 AM
Response to Original message |
1. This is real food for thought |
|
I have given up all things that are not cruelty-free, so I must begin looking at ways to refrain from using petro based items. PETA has a compassionate consumer guide. Does anyone know of a guide to petro free living? It's an insidious product present in so many areas of our life we hardly think about it. I do know that recently in shopping for replacment carperting I was told there would be an industry wide price increase due to oil prices. I would like to hear some ideas on how to reduce our dependance upon oil.
|
indigobusiness
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #1 |
|
and welcome to DU.
I wish I was more careful in my consumption.
|
lapfog_1
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #1 |
8. An petroleum free existence is |
|
pretty much impossible currently.
Its in so many objects that we use every day. Everything made from plastic is petroleum based, including the computers, almost all synthetic fabrics (I guess we could go back to wearing animal skins... oops).
The list of things is so long that I won't even try to list it all.
The big things that use 99 percent of the oil and natural gas are:
fuel to run machinery
fuel to generate electricity
fertilizer to grow things
we need to do without all three of these somehow. If we could in the next 5 years, THEN in the next 200 or so, we could start thinking about removing petroleum from the rest of the things we use. If we don't, well, a lot of people will starve, lots more will die in wars to obtain and control the supply of oil and the planet will not be a very nice place to be.
|
gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:37 AM
Response to Reply #8 |
10. thanks for the reality trip, it does look bad |
CrispyQ
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:04 AM
Response to Original message |
2. Yesterday at the gas pump, |
|
I heard a man, who was filling up his Yukon, complain about the price of gas. Now I don't know what a Yukon cost, but it must be at least $35K. He can afford a $35K gas-guzzling behemoth but whines about $2/gallon gas.
|
cheezus
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:06 AM
Response to Reply #2 |
|
he's barely making the $400mo payments as it is... the extra $50 a mont h in gas might make things tough
not that I have sympathy for him. get a bicycle
|
CrispyQ
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:15 AM
Response to Reply #3 |
4. A bicycle would do him good . . . |
|
as he had close to 200,000 extra calories around his middle.
|
indigobusiness
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #2 |
|
hypocrisy is king, and irony abounds http://sludgereport.blogspot.com/
|
seabeyond
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:23 AM
Response to Original message |
7. i am ready to go to electric car |
|
anyone else ready to sacrifice. i need a lot more, they dont have the stuff here. has to be more of a demand than me, sittin in the panhandle
|
gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:33 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
9. but what about the energy used to generate electricity to build.. |
|
the car and keep it running? how about no car, and public trans, as the rest of the world does?
|
lapfog_1
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 11:46 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
11. There isn't any reason to "sacrifice" |
|
there is this fallacy that somehow if we live off renew-ables, that we can't drive big cars or SUVs, we can't drive as much, we will operate vehicles that aren't as fast or quick or stylish.
This is all bullshit. We have the technology now to build fuel cell cars that are everything that we have now, right down to beating gas powered cars in the quarter mile (if you really need that).
The problem is the fuel for fuel cells, it has to be a form of hydrogen. The energy companies (which have a vested interest in keeping a near monopoly on the supply of fuel) are trying very hard to convince people that the way to power fuel cells is to use hydrocarbon based fuels (the same crap we are using now). We need to move to something which is produced using renew-ables and that's a pure form of hydrogen which is safe and easy to handle. The other problem is to convince the infrastructure folks (the car makers, the gas stations, fuel transport, etc) to move to this.
The real problem is that we don't have time. We may have 20 years, tops. Starting now, it would take 20 years to migrate without major economic impact from the disruption. I don't really see anyone starting now.
|
gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
12. the miracle technology cure, eh? don't bet on it. |
lapfog_1
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 12:13 PM
Response to Reply #12 |
13. I'm sorry, is there something here that you know that |
|
100s of scientists that I worked with at NASA for over 10 years do not?
Not only technologically possible, the technology is in hand today and will only get better as we start using it. All it takes now is for a combination of gov and corporations to make it so.
No miracle required.
And what, specifically, is it about thermodynamics that you are referring to?
|
Ms. Clio
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 01:01 PM
Response to Original message |
14. How many Native Americans had to die |
|
in order to make that "sea to shining sea" thing possible?
All U.S. foreign policy is just Manifest Destiny on a global scale.
|
gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 01:41 PM
Response to Reply #14 |
gpandas
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
|
Wed Jun-09-04 02:36 PM
Response to Reply #15 |
16. i don't know much about alternate fuel technology... |
|
but what little i have read about it from sources that don't benefit either way is that it is still economically not feasable at this time. the thermo analogy is 'getting something from nothing'. btw, the post was mainly about killing other people in order to maintain our energy consumption (which is what we are doing in iraq right now). mention energy and americans immediately jump to defend their 2000 to 5000 pound personal transportation. there are many ways in which energy is needlessly used in this country, not just the ubiquitous automobile. what of all the throw away items that have us wallowing in our own garbage? what of the billions of btu's of energy used mowing and fertilizing lawns? we take consumption to new levels every day. imho that american people are out of touch with reality if they think they can morally justify our way of living.
|
DU
AdBot (1000+ posts) |
Mon Apr 29th 2024, 10:01 PM
Response to Original message |