unGrid

There is one thing that Al Gore and I agree on when it comes to the environment; we’re screwed. The problem is Al believes that we’re screwed if we don’t do anything to combat “climate change”. While I don’t know about that, I do believe we’re screwed if we listen to him and the leaders of the modern environmental movement.

Carbon Credits and Unchecked Consumerism

Carbon credits are nothing more than a way for the rich and famous to live ridiculously opulent lifestyles without the guilt. They accomplish this feat through the simple ritual of wasting obscene amounts of energy and then pay someone to use less. Problem number one comes in the form of the system working largely on the honor system. Throw an insanely big party filled with pretentious celebrities with room temperature IQ’s, show up in a Prius, blame the President for all thats wrong with the world and call it the Oscars. Then simply buy a million dollars worth of carbon credits that says some coal plant in Manchuria is going to cut back production for a week so that you can sleep at night. Only during the week that the coal plant is (or isn’t) cutting back production they steamroll an acre and a half for the second Starbucks in a five miles in some ritzy metro suburb. Then again its “Free Trade” coffee so its all good.

Al Gore lectures on saving the environment, yet his Nashville mansion consumes 20 times more energy than the national average. Meanwhile, enemy of the environment, George W. Bush’s Crawford ranch uses Geo-Thermal heat, collects and recycles its own water and uses no fossil fuels to heat or cool the house. (*) Of course, Gore counters that he offsets his consumption by purchasing carbon credits. Yes, the Bush’s made much of their money on oil, but Gore is currently raking it in through his interests in the carbon credit trading scheme. (*)

CFLs & Heavy Metal

I’ve lost count of the number of articles, advertisements, and talking heads I’ve seen in the past six months that have implored all of us to replace our standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. CFLs are little fluorescent bulbs that have been twisted in to a spiral shape so that they can fit in places normally occupied by standard bulbs. Unfortunately, there are a few things that none of these articles, advertisements or talking heads ever mention:

1. Standard CFLs cannot be used with 3-way or dimmer switches. (GE FAQ)
2. The flicker has been minimized, but you should leave them on for 15 mintues. (GE FAQ)
3. CFLs must be disposed of with other hazardous waste, do not put them in the trash. (GE FAQ)
4. CFLs contain mercury and must be cleaned up according to specific guidelines. (Maine CFL Study)

CFLs are easily one of the worst fixes I’ve seen to fight global warming to date. First and foremost, people are not disposing of these bulbs properly. I don’t like anecdotal evidence, but here is one you can try on your own. Ask 10, 20, 30 people the following questions and see what they say:

• Have you replaced any of your incandescent bulbs with CFLs?
• What do you think of the quality of the light?
• Do you notice a delay from the time you turn it on to maximum brightness?
• If so, do you find yourself leaving them on more or less than your old bulbs?
• How do you dispose of your bulbs when they burn out?
• What do you do when one breaks?

I asked those very same questions to friends, family, and coworkers and the overwhelming responses are:

• Yes.
• Its very poor.
• Absolutely
• Yes
• Throw them out in the trash.
• Sweep them up and throw them in the trash.

Most people had no idea that fluorescents contained mercury and most of the people who did had no idea what that meant. They continued to handle their CFLs in the same exact manner they had handled their old bulbs, thus dumping more mercury in to the landfills of America. I shudder to think of the number of these bulbs that are getting incinerated and released in to the atmosphere.

Global Warming

I am not one to make a bold statement one way or the other on global warming because frankly, I don’t know jack. The difference between me and the modern environmentalist is that I’m the only one willing to admit it. According to Gore and company the planet “has a fever” and their environmental policies are all based on reducing carbon emissions at all costs. Even if it means dumping tons of mercury in to our landfills over the next twenty years. Lets also take in to account that since 1998 global temperatures have leveled off and have started to fall. Of course, I caution that this is only a 10 year window and nobody should react too harshly over such a small sample set. Unless your Al Gore, he wants you to panic over a 20 year window and buy up carbon credits from his business partners. The truth is that temperatures were rising over a period from the late 70’s to the late 90’s. He makes no mention of the fact that temperatures have increased 0.7c over the past couple hundred years and that as recently as 1975 the crisis was “Global Cooling“. Probably one of the best written pieces on why we must be careful in trying to combat climate change is this piece by Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe.