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What would be so horrible about conserving oil?

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TheFarseer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 06:50 PM
Original message
What would be so horrible about conserving oil?
I like to sit in my car and listen to Rush over lunch(I can't help it, it's like looking away from an 82 car pile up-can't do it) The things coming out of his mouth get more and more bizzare every day! Today he declares it's fine to drive your SUV because there is no global warming(not suprising) but the crazy thing was he tried to tie it to Jesus. We didn't create the planet, God did, and only God can destroy the planet. We can't do anything to hurt the planet, it's all part of a process. Glacers aren't melting, they're just moving around. Yesterday he tried to prove creationism. His proof was that animals were very complicated and that there are alot of complicated things in the world like DNA. What are the odds that the world would turn out like this just through evolution? It's got to be a trillion to one. That proves that this is no accident. God created the world - end of story. Can anyone poke any holes in this logic? I think it's air tight :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

OK that was way off topic but back to my subject, even if you don't believe in global warming because Jesus wouldn't create that :silly: I can think of alot of other reasons to not waste gas/oil(costs more, funds terror, smog) and can't really think of any reason why wasting gas/oil helps us as a society.
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Eugene Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 07:06 PM
Response to Original message
1. Standard reply: Conservation is anti-growth.
Economic activity is good. More is better.
That is "The American Way" and has been
Repub policy since Reagan/Bush.

Besides, to paraphrase James Watt,
why worry about conservation when
the ultimate savior is on his way?
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Anakin Skywalker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 07:08 PM
Response to Original message
2. Thanks for the Info!
More snippets to add to my file of "Proofs that Limbaugh is F***ed in the Head!"
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vptpt Donating Member (534 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
3. If we conserve,
wouldn't that mean less money for Bush, Cheney, and all those other guys? Maybe that's why.
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Porcupine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 10:18 PM
Response to Original message
4. It eases the pain of the Die Off
Google: Peak Oil and read the page from http://dieoff.com/

If we soften the blow or delay it we lessen the chances that many endangered or threatened species would have to continue. Whole ecologies are on the brink of disaster and the only true hope is the sudden disapearance of 90% of humanity.

Since at least 50% of humanity lives on the energy surplus provided by manipulation of petroleum products the solution is obvious. Use 'em up and bring on the end of the world.

Go! Lemmings Go!
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TheFarseer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 10:40 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. I can't say I share your excitement : )
Edited on Wed Dec-15-04 10:41 PM by TheFarseer
although it should be obvious to reasonable people that we are overpopulated
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Porcupine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 11:38 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. If you can't join them, beat them
I cannot manage the cognitive dissonance neccesary to live in modern AmeriKa succesfully. Even the vaunted California liberals are generally full of crap.; witness the "Keep Tahoe Blue" sticker on the Toyota Highlander.

I don't have a place in your world and neither do far too many people who are self-medicating to live day to day. No I don't want to see a massive die-off; but nobody is listening to us eco types either.

GAIA may get tired of whispering and start shouting someday. The scientific evidence says she's done it before.
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TheFarseer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 11:50 PM
Response to Reply #9
10. It's really not helping that Rush and others are making
pissing on environmentalism mainstream. I think they are literaly poluting, wasting resources etc to spite environmentalists. Yeah, that will show us all when the planet is totally f*cked. I heard him today ranting about how global warming is bullsh*t and how we don't need to conserve oil and we can dump garbage and spill oil in the ocean and it won't hurt anything blah blah blah then he says, "sorry to rant but I feel really passionate about this." Excuse me? You're passionate about anti-environmentalism and polluting? God help us all, when we have millions of people listening to this and nodding.
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 10:23 PM
Response to Original message
5. Soon after Cheney took office in 2000
he was encouraging everyone to waste energy and resources.


It's sure not like the 70's when people actually thought about things like -using a lot of Christmas lights is a waste of electricity.
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idiosyncratic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 11:12 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. When he said that, we in California were madly conserving to
prevent blackouts because of the energy manipulation by companies like Enron.

They still run "conservation commercials" on TV to encourage people to turn off their lights or use appliances at off-peak hours.

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TheFarseer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 12:26 AM
Response to Reply #5
12. how was he doing that?
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. Cheney - May 2001
"There are lots of ways we can use technology to get better, more efficient," Cheney said, "... without saying to the American people, 'You've got to live in the dark. Don't enjoy the things that our modern society brings you.' That shouldn't be necessary."

<snip>

"What's happening in California today is they've taken the route of saying all we have to do is conserve," Cheney said. "And today they've got rolling blackouts because they don't have enough electricity."

<snip>

"As for Cheney, Davis said the vice president had "really dropped the ball" last week when he said during a speech in Toronto, Canada, that conservation was not a sound basis for an energy policy."

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/05/08/cheney.cnn/
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 01:32 PM
Response to Reply #12
14. Cheney's energy- saving "tips"
http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/05/10/tips/print.html


Dick Cheney's 10 tips to conserve energy


Tip No. 1: Replace incandescent bulbs with much brighter incandescent bulbs.


A 250-watt bulb burns brighter than a 100-watt bulb: a lot brighter. Don't listen to the "dim bulbs" who insist that lower-wattage light bulbs are somehow more energy efficient. There's nothing efficient about staggering across a dark room bumping into furniture. Also, remember that 30 percent of the energy consumed by a light bulb is expended when the bulb is switched on. Keeping your lights on all the time is a simple but effective way to conserve energy.


Tip No. 2: Turn the air conditioning down to "medium" when you're not in the room.


By simply turning the air conditioning down to the medium setting (about 62 degrees) before you leave a room, you'll reap significant savings, while you and your family stay comfortable. You can further keep costs down by closing off sections of your house to trap cool air in occupied areas. At my ranch in Wyoming, for example, I like to blast the AC in the living room, family room, parlor, rec room and den, while keeping the AC set to "medium" in the library, conservatory, antiques room and aviary.


Tip No. 3: Wrap your hot water tank with "jacket" insulation.


More than 20 percent of the heat from your hot water tank escapes into the surrounding air. Wrap your water tank with a suitable "jacket" insulator. An old mink coat or chinchilla wrap is ideal.


Tip No. 4: Keep your SUV well-maintained.


SUVs are already incredibly energy efficient, meeting or exceeding federal mileage standards for large trucks and buses. But a little TLC for your SUV can make your mobile home-away-from-home even more energy-friendly. Keep power windows and locks well oiled, slow down to 75 mph on freeways, switch into two-wheel drive whenever practical and consider replacing the in-dash stereo system with a more efficient multiple-CD changer.


Tip No. 5: Replace old appliances with really big new ones.


Small appliances mean big energy bills. Think about it: By using an extra-large capacity washer and dryer, you'll only have to do laundry half as often, a 50 percent savings. Replace your current washer, dryer, refrigerator and dishwasher with the largest models you can fit through the door. Don't forget to upgrade minor appliances such as electric knife sharpeners, automatic can openers, juice squeezers, ice cream makers, bagel slicers, golf ball washers, etc.


Tip No. 6: Upgrade your hot tub.


Natural gas hot-tub heaters use less energy than electric heaters, cost less to operate and heat water faster, so you won't have to wait as long for the water to warm up. A low-cost motion detector (available at most hardware stores) connected to an appropriately licensed firearm (available most everywhere) will help keep out unwanted guests, further reducing your tub's energy consumption.

etc.
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #12
15. this has lots of info if you're interested
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #12
16. more Cheney quotes from May 2001
"National security concerns—the dependence on foreign oil that, in Cheney's words, makes it "easy for a regime such as … Iraq to hold us hostage"—enter the debate as well.

<snip>

Once conservationism is stripped of its exclusive claim to environmental protection and is pitted against the nation's economic well-being, its moral superiority can be turned upside down. It is reduced, in Cheney's words, to a philosophy of "austerity," an attack on America's "standard of living," and an implicit accusation that the country's energy woes "represent a failing of the American people." Against this self-loathing mentality, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer argues that energy use signifies health and virtue: "The President also believes that the American people's use of energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy."

http://slate.msn.com/id/105848/
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idiosyncratic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 05:25 PM
Response to Reply #12
18. The quote I remember was about how conservation only makes
you "feel" better, but it doesn't have any other effect.

Duh!!


Just today on the news there was a segment about how California has passed a new law that by 2006, all electronics have to be more energy efficient.

Right now things like your DC player, DVD player, TV, cordless phone, etc. are "energy vampires" using quite a bit of electricity, even when they are turned off.

I use "power strips" to fully shut off the "energy vampires" in my house.
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Osamasux Donating Member (846 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 11:21 PM
Response to Original message
8. Actually, one of the moral values I was raised with
is conservation. If I don't turn off a light when leaving a room I'll sometimes double back to shut it, almost without thinking.

They are actually trying to use that DNA argument in court to defend teaching creationism. (aka the "Whoops there it is" theory of the universe.)

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Kazak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Dec-15-04 11:58 PM
Response to Original message
11. I do that too.
Sit in my car over lunch, that is, and listen to RW radio (and sports). I can usually only pick up Tammy Bruce during my lunch hour. :puke:

Live simply so that others may simply live.
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bloom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Dec-16-04 05:11 PM
Response to Original message
17. ....
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