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Sick of hearing about green issues?

13

Comments

  • #62
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 14,550 ✭✭✭✭fits


    colly10 wrote: »
    There was a petition of something like 30k scientists that said it was rubish/misinformed/grossly exadurated. I couldn't be bothered finding it because I don't care enough about the whole global warming debate

    How do you know they were scientists? and how do you know they were experts in the field?
    Depeche_Mode wrote: »
    Read "The Skeptical Environmentalist" or "Cool It" by Bjorn Lomborg. He challenges the current view of global warming and is really well researched (about a third of the total pages of "Cool It" is his bibliography at the end).

    From memory I think he pointed out that there has been a net gain of snow in the arctic, of the 20 subpopulations of polar bears only 1 or 2 are experiencing a decline in numbers and these are declining for reasons other than global warming, Kyoto will achieve practically nothing for enormous costs which would be better spent elsewhere, and freak weather events such as hurricanes only cause more damage today than they did 100 years ago because more houses are built along coastal areas.

    From a thread in the green issues forum.

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055176293&highlight=skeptical+environmentalist
    Lomborg is not a scientist and he has deliberately misrepresented data in The Skeptical Environmentalist, which was cited by the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DCSD) for:
    Fabrication of data
    Selective discarding of unwanted results (selective citation)
    Deliberately misleading use of statistical methods
    Distorted interpretation of conclusions
    Plagiarism
    Deliberate misinterpretation of others' results
    He escaped any formal charges on the basis that he has no formal scientific training.

    The scientist who 'disproves' climate change would make a fortune, so why hasnt it happened?

    Btw Arctic ice melt has seriously exceeded Scientists' expectations in 2007 and also 2008. What is going on up there is drastic.

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  • #63
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,629 ✭✭✭ART6


    taconnol wrote: »
    I'm guessing you're German or Scandinavian?


    If you're referring to me, the answer is neither, but I do admit to being an immigrant. Apparently my name is of Norman derivation, so my ancestors have only been around in these parts for about 900 years. I don't appear to be related to Brian Boru sadly:D


  • #64
    justcallmetex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 280 ✭✭justcallmetex


    norbert64 wrote: »
    you must be listening more intently than I am OP.

    the last big green issue I recall was the banned lightbulbs thingy, there in the Spring?

    try turning on the radio I'll bet any amount of money you like that in 30 mins you'll hear an ad or feature bangin on about your carbon footprint or global warming blah blah f**kin blah....


  • #65
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    try turning on the radio I'll bet any amount of money you like that in 30 mins you'll hear an ad or feature bangin on about your carbon footprint or global warming blah blah f**kin blah....

    Well seeing as it the single most important issue that mankind has EVER faced in it's history, it's not surprising it's all over the media.

    If Climate Change continues as it is there wont be any ads for you to complain about, or food, or a nice safe place for you to live in, or much else for that matter.

    It is that important: This thing is bigger than World War II, The Rwandan Genocide and the Crusades rolled into one: It is hugely, hugely important.

    In fact it is so important that your ideology is irrelevant: Left, right, socialist, libertarian, free-marketeer, it's all iunimportant: This thing is clear and present danger to human life on earth. That's the magnitude of the problem. And you're pissed off at it being overexposed? Try complaining about the millionth article this week about Amy Winehouse's drug habits. Now that is irrelevant. Climate change, on the other hand, is probably the least irrelevant thing there has ever been.


  • #66
    cornbb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,790 ✭✭✭cornbb


    justcallmetex wrote: »
    try turning on the radio I'll bet any amount of money you like that in 30 mins you'll hear an ad or feature bangin on about your carbon footprint or global warming blah blah f**kin blah....

    I know! And if you turn on the news you'll hear about some tool ranting about oil prices, global food shortages, natural disasters, human rights abuses, or the AIDS epidemic in Africa. How dare they cause us to hear of these things! Make some space in that sand for my head...


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  • #67
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    Anthropogenic climate change is another Y2K imo. And even it its not its, the earth managed long before us, and the earth will manage long after we're gone. I'm all for keeping the place clean but I've no time for the doomsdayers at all.
    I'm not going to worry and fret over some grant hungry scientists efforts at modelling what is effectively a chaotic system to produce the results they want.
    My other accused me of burying my head in the sand recently, and my reply was that I've never seen a depressed ostrich.


  • #68
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    Anthropogenic climate change is another Y2K imo. And even it its not its, the earth managed long before us, and the earth will manage long after we're gone. I'm all for keeping the place clean but I've no time for the doomsdayers at all.
    I'm not going to worry and fret over some grant hungry scientists efforts at modelling what is effectively a chaotic system to produce the results they want.

    I really, truly wish that that was true.

    But it isnt.

    The only scientists who dont agree that this is happening , and happening now, are those who are being paid to do so by oil companies and, right-wing American 'think-tanks'.

    There is some disagreement about how fast it's happening: But very few reputable scientists beleive it's not happening anymore.

    Use your common sense: Follow the money: One one side, we might have a handful of scientists trying to further their careers, looking to get grants:

    On the other we have the power of big business, oil companies and any rich, powerful person who has a vested interest in the massively wasteful consumer economy we have developed in the West since WWII.

    Which do you honestly think is telling the truth? Come on. The time is past for even doubting this: Lets just get on with fixing it.


  • #69
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    RealEstateKing wrote: »

    Which do you honestly think is telling the truth? Come on. The time is past for even doubting this: Lets just get on with fixing it.

    Ok, so lets assume that all the holes in the argument aren't there and it's real, 'fixing it' is a pipe dream. It would just be delaying the inevitble. There's no chance China, India, Africa are gonna continue to live in misery when the opportunity for prosperity arises just because Johnny Westerner says so.
    "Oh hai poories, sorry you can't has a nice left, we wrecked teh planet already so you haz to stay miserable"


  • #70
    cornbb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,790 ✭✭✭cornbb


    zuutroy wrote: »
    even it its not its, the earth managed long before us, and the earth will manage long after we're gone.

    I agree, nature tends to be self-healing. But I think one of the defense mechanisms used by the earth to heal itself will be to flush away or cull the bad things that are causing it harm, i.e. humans.

    The earth will doubtlessly go on, but the question is whether it will continue to support human life, or whether it will be able to support the expansion and growth of human populations and civilisation at the current rate.


  • #71
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    cornbb wrote: »
    The earth will doubtlessly go on, but the question is whether it will continue to support human life, or whether it will be able to support the expansion and growth of human populations and civilisation at the current rate.

    Well, afaik Adam and Eve didn't sign a billion year lease on the place :pac: so if extinction beckons then so be it...


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  • #72
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    Ok, so lets assume that all the holes in the argument aren't there and it's real, 'fixing it' is a pipe dream. It would just be delaying the inevitble. There's no chance China, India, Africa are gonna continue to live in misery when the opportunity for prosperity arises just because Johnny Westerner says so.
    "Oh hai poories, sorry you can't has a nice left, we wrecked teh planet already so you haz to stay miserable"

    Again with the ideology: Climate change doesnt give a rat's ass whether you're a Westerner or an Easterner, poor or rich, it's happening anyway.

    Fixing it is a pipe dream eh? So you've gone from saying it's not happening at all to saying it's so bad it can be fixed? Interesting thinking.

    Your attitude resembles a smoker who has been diagnosed with lung cancer and told he has a 30 % chance of living, at first going into denial, saying "Nah, those doctors are probably just trying to get me to pay for chemotherapy." , then making a desperate leap to "A **** it, Im gonna die anyway, so I might as well keep smoking."

    Either way, if we listen to you, we're buggered.


  • #73
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    Fixing it is a pipe dream eh? So you've gone from saying it's not happening at all to saying it's so bad it can be fixed? Interesting thinking.

    No I'm saying if these ridiculously tentative models are true, extrapolations of them would suggest that reparation is beyond us.

    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    Your attitude resembles a smoker who has been diagnosed with lung cancer and told he has a 30 % chance of living, at first going into denial, saying "Nah, those doctors are probably just trying to get me to pay for chemotherapy." , then making a desperate leap to "A **** it, Im gonna die anyway, so I might as well keep smoking."

    Either way, if we listen to you, we're buggered.

    Except replace 'continuing to smoke' with 'giving the worst off people of this and the next few generations something of a life' instead of ignoring them as we plan for something that may not happen.

    EDIT: and yes we are buggered, you can't keep the 2nd law of thermodynamics down!


  • #74
    Marcus.Aurelius
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,314 ✭✭✭Marcus.Aurelius


    Any of the recent IPCC reports have been rubbished in the scientific community because all they ever do is pander to the governments involved. More scaremongering = more green taxes.

    I mean for God's sake, the arctic ice shelf is bigger than it was 10 years ago because of the recent cold winters. And Antartica will probably regain much of its share with the cooler winter this year down there.

    http://www.desmogblog.com/fraser-institute-ipcc-london-report

    http://www.john-daly.com/guests/un_ipcc.htm

    http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/293/5529/430b

    http://www.lavoisier.com.au/papers/articles/lav2006forWeb.pdf

    Some of these sources can hardly be described as wonderful. But they do raise very important points that the IPCC leave unanswered because of the negative press it would cause.

    All lies and manipulation of statistics to increase tax in an increasingly harsh economic climate.

    And oil? Even with increased demand projected ahead, peak oil will not be reached until well into 2040, not to mention as-yet-undiscovered wells and oil deposits.


  • #75
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    No I'm saying if these ridiculously tentative models are true, extrapolations of them would suggest that reparation is beyond us.

    Thats a matter for debate, it is quite possible that there's little we can do about it at this stage. But you;re simply sticking your head in the sand and saying that, because some scientist may have part of it wrong, or there is some room for doubt about the details of global warming, therefore we dont need to do anything about it. Everything's fine becuase we dont know exactly. A kind of nice cosy armchair agnosticism, that will lead us all straight to no-where. Step aside and make room for somebody with a useful opinion will you?
    'giving the worst off people of this and the next few generations something of a life'

    There's absolutely no reason why we cant do something about climate change and still alleviate the worst excesses of poverty (treatable disease, hunger and all the rest) - the world is not heading towards a situation where everybody lives at the level of consumption of a European, and has a nice cosy job in an office: That can't and won't happen: Ordinary common-or-garden agrarian poverty is the norm for human-beings, and always has been: The kind of slash-and-burn Capitalism we have now sure aint gonna do anything about that.

    What we can do is provide clean water, free clinics, free education and subsidised food to those people: That could be done with George Soros' pocket change. The real pipe-dream is the idea that someday all these huddle masses will be instant messaging each other on their laptops on their way to their job as a web designer.


  • #76
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    Step aside and make room for somebody with a useful opinion will you?
    How can an opinion be useful or useless?

    Jus because I don't blindly agree with the IPCC doesn't make my opinion useless.


  • #77
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    Example:

    September 1939: Hitler invades the Rhineland and gives every sign of being a really bad guy.

    Person (1) Says: Lets get ready for war.

    Person (2) says, let's try a little diplomacy, maybe he's more rational than he looks.

    Person (3) says, I dont think Hitler exists.

    Person (3) has a useless opinion.


  • #78
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    Example:

    Person (3) has a useless opinion.

    That isn't a useless opinion. It is a mis-understanding of fact.


  • #79
    RealEstateKing
    Closed Accounts Posts: 432 ✭✭RealEstateKing


    That isn't a useless opinion. It is a mis-understanding of fact.

    No there's an essential difference between disagreeing over what should be done about an apparent problem , and simply sticking your head in the sand and saying the problem doesnt exist, as you are doing.

    In the contest of a world teetering on the brink of climate change, which no reputable scientist disagrees with , the only useful conversation is one about what is to be done about it, how much, when, and to what degree.


  • #80
    zuutroy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    In the contest of a world teetering on the brink of climate change, which no reputable scientist disagrees with , the only useful conversation is one about what is to be done about it, how much, when, and to what degree.

    Note that I was talking about anthopogenic climate change. I never disputed the effect, just the cause. I don't think we have enough control over things to do anything about it.
    Unless, maybe we spray some aerosols which 'explained' the cooling that didn't fit in with the anthropogenic model in the 50's :p


  • #81
    justcallmetex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 280 ✭✭justcallmetex


    RealEstateKing wrote: »
    Well seeing as it the single most important issue that mankind has EVER faced in it's history, it's not surprising it's all over the media.

    If Climate Change continues as it is there wont be any ads for you to complain about, or food, or a nice safe place for you to live in, or much else for that matter.

    It is that important: This thing is bigger than World War II, The Rwandan Genocide and the Crusades rolled into one: It is hugely, hugely important.

    In fact it is so important that your ideology is irrelevant: Left, right, socialist, libertarian, free-marketeer, it's all iunimportant: This thing is clear and present danger to human life on earth. That's the magnitude of the problem. And you're pissed off at it being overexposed? Try complaining about the millionth article this week about Amy Winehouse's drug habits. Now that is irrelevant. Climate change, on the other hand, is probably the least irrelevant thing there has ever been.

    wrong answer 1975-2000 temp increase .5 of a degree 2000 till now 0 increase. What are you selling? Maybe your right and I'm wrong but what would I know a degree in Geography and Green studies don't count for much nowadays.

    Amy Winehouse's drug habits. Now that is irrelevant. Climate change, on the other hand, is probably the least irrelevant thing there has ever been.[/quote]

    Not a sh1t could I give about Amy Winehouse at least the government haven't decided to treat her drug problem with increased taxation


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  • #82
    Sugar Drunk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Sugar Drunk


    RobAMerc wrote: »
    Anybody else sick to the back teeth of hearing about 'Green' issues ?

    I for one have really have had enough of Gormley et al, coming on the radio telling me I am a bad human and that I need to pay more tax in order to fix it.

    For God sake people, the economy is in tatters, there are folks on our doorstep as well as across the world starving, our health system is a mess and all these clowns can do is tell me my heating the house is a bad thing ???


    THANK YOU!!! If I hear one more quote about 'its bad for the environment' or 'what about the planet' I am goign to scream!!!! If these tree huggers cared so bloody much they would be living in sheds with no electricity or fuel and walking everywhere. but are they - no!. would they be polluting the air waves by using a damaging mobile phone to ring into radio stations to bitch about the rest of us ?? surely mobile phones and radio waves are bad for the enviroment too!!
    I plug out the tv and any other appliances when not in use, I put recyclable objects into a recycling bin. However, I was in blanch a few weeks ago at night and was surprised to see the retail parks and several office buildings lit up like christmas trees even though there were all closed!! Over xmas, went into town shops were closed but many had full lights on. So, we the individuals are being punished, lectured at and taxed more while we try to make little differences and yet companies are getting away with this its a joke. What little difference can one of us make when companies are doing this.

    Yesterday on the radio a man rang in who was waiting for his driving test. he lived three miles from work. Some arrogant person text in saying it was 'envirinmentally unfriendly for him to be driving to work' WTF!!! Its three miles how dare someone say we 'should not' be driving that. How dare someone say that he 'should' be walking or cycling?? In this weather!? If I had to walk or cycle 6 miles everyday it would add ages to my journey its my time and my life.

    At the end of the day I paid for and taxed my car, I use a non plastic bag when I remember to and I recycle. I will drive my car when I want to. Im just so sick of these people telling the rest of us what to do twenty four seven. I will choose what way I travel to work, what I use to carry my shopping, how often I watch my tv and how much electricity I use - im paying more than enough for it!!! cant we ship them off to an island with no electricity, plastic bags, phones or transport and leave them happy out?

    I also wonder of the government was so concerned about the planet why they are not encouraging us to use vegetable oil instead of diesel. to affraid of loosing that nice slice of the price of petrol and diesel id imagine!:mad:


  • #83
    Macha
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 6,391 Mod ✭✭✭✭Macha


    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    THANK YOU!!! If I hear one more quote about 'its bad for the environment' or 'what about the planet' I am goign to scream!!!! If these tree huggers cared so bloody much they would be living in sheds with no electricity or fuel and walking everywhere. but are they - no!. would they be polluting the air waves by using a damaging mobile phone to ring into radio stations to bitch about the rest of us ?? surely mobile phones and radio waves are bad for the enviroment too!!

    Why would you think that this is the best thing for people who care about the environment can do? Obviously the best thing they can do is raise awareness of the issues in order to encourage behaviour modification in the general public. I think that ones a bit of a no-brainer...
    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    I plug out the tv and any other appliances when not in use, I put recyclable objects into a recycling bin. However, I was in blanch a few weeks ago at night and was surprised to see the retail parks and several office buildings lit up like christmas trees even though there were all closed!! Over xmas, went into town shops were closed but many had full lights on. So, we the individuals are being punished, lectured at and taxed more while we try to make little differences and yet companies are getting away with this its a joke. What little difference can one of us make when companies are doing this.
    Well done for doing those things. But they're really very small things & everyone should be doing them. "We" the individuals are not being taxed more than big companies. We pay our bin charges, companies pay an annual amount to REPAK. We have rules on not littering, etc. Companies have huge reams of environmental legislation that they have to comply with. The problem can be daunting but the 'I'm just one person, what can I do?' mentality is a dangerous one.
    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    Yesterday on the radio a man rang in who was waiting for his driving test. he lived three miles from work. Some arrogant person text in saying it was 'envirinmentally unfriendly for him to be driving to work' WTF!!! Its three miles how dare someone say we 'should not' be driving that. How dare someone say that he 'should' be walking or cycling?? In this weather!? If I had to walk or cycle 6 miles everyday it would add ages to my journey its my time and my life.

    At the end of the day I paid for and taxed my car, I use a non plastic bag when I remember to and I recycle. I will drive my car when I want to. Im just so sick of these people telling the rest of us what to do twenty four seven. I will choose what way I travel to work, what I use to carry my shopping, how often I watch my tv and how much electricity I use - im paying more than enough for it!!! cant we ship them off to an island with no electricity, plastic bags, phones or transport and leave them happy out?
    I really hate this "I have a god-given right to X, Y Z". We do not have the right to any of the ridiculous luxuries we seem to have fooled ourselves into thinking are standard living conditions. Go and ask your parents or grandparents if they had cars or Dundrum shopping centres or went on 4 European trips per year. God people have such short memories. Our lifestyle has only existed since the end of WW2. Why do we think we're so f**king special? I have the right to drive wherever I want. I have the right to leave my lights on all night. I have the right to blah blah blah. It seems that the only barrier is cost. It's almost is if we feel that if someone has enough money, they have the right to do whatever they want. Well sorry but all those people driving around all day are polluting OUR atmosphere, not just their own.

    This insular, individualistic, self-righteousness really gets my goat. And the really annoying thing is people claim environmentalists are the self-righteous ones. I see a hell of a lot more self-righteousness in people who run around screaming about their god-given 'rights'.
    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    I also wonder of the government was so concerned about the planet why they are not encouraging us to use vegetable oil instead of diesel. to affraid of loosing that nice slice of the price of petrol and diesel id imagine!:mad:
    If you read up on biofuels at ALL, or even bother to read back in this thread you'll see that biofuels are not the answer.


  • #84
    Glowing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,851 ✭✭✭Glowing


    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    How dare someone say that he 'should' be walking or cycling?? In this weather!? If I had to walk or cycle 6 miles everyday it would add ages to my journey its my time and my life.

    Very unlikely - I cycle 6 miles every day and it's much MUCH faster than driving the same distance. I probably have a smaller backside too.

    Sit away in your car, no worries, do what you like. I've got a better quality of life since I ditched my car - it's not always to do with the environment, although for me, it's the added bonus.


  • #85
    Glowing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,851 ✭✭✭Glowing


    taconnol wrote: »
    This insular, individualistic, self-righteousness really gets my goat. And the really annoying thing is people claim environmentalists are the self-righteous ones. I see a hell of a lot more self-righteousness in people who run around screaming about their god-given 'rights'.

    Well put.


  • #86
    spank_inferno
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,884 ✭✭✭spank_inferno


    +1 for the OP

    I do my bit, plug out appliances, insulated my loft, put in double glazing.
    But no matter how much I reduce my energy consumption, every single watt of power comes from a government owned fossil fuel burning power plant.

    Responsibility for irelands co2 output starts and ends with the government.
    They should stop harasing the public and focus on harnessing the power of this very windy island!


  • #87
    Sugar Drunk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Sugar Drunk


    what to you think the purpose of your life is? Me, I want to enjoy mine. I dont want to spend hours walking somewhere when its more practical to drive. Do you want me to stop going on holiday because the plane emits carbon? or to stop watching tv or going on the net or buying things from the internet or doing anything enjoyable! Im entitled to be self rightteous I worked my ass off to get a degree and a good job and I dont think enjoying life a bit is a bad thing! I did 4 years of dreadful public transport in college so now if I want to drive my car to work...i will! If I want to go on a nice holiday I will!

    If ye were all so concerned shouldnt you be off doing something constructive rather than being on the internet using up electricity?? Do you live in a tiny house to consume miminal electricity and oil? Do you walk absoloutely everywhere? Do you forsake things you enjoy like being on a social website? no.

    This is what puts off so many people - this dogmatic nanny attitude ' you shouldnt do this', 'you cant do this', 'you must do this'. rather than trying to compromise with people which I think people would be happy to do. I am happy to make small changes and compromise but I will not be told to change my whole life just because some of ye think I should.


  • #88
    Sugar Drunk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Sugar Drunk


    Glowing wrote: »
    Very unlikely - I cycle 6 miles every day and it's much MUCH faster than driving the same distance. I probably have a smaller backside too.

    Sit away in your car, no worries, do what you like. I've got a better quality of life since I ditched my car - it's not always to do with the environment, although for me, it's the added bonus.


    A I dont want to cycle.
    B I do not have time to cycle to and from work I have a busy lifestyle and do not plan to get up yet another hour earlier just to cycle to work
    C due to a physical back and neck problem I couldnt do it anyway Id end up in bits.

    If you want to cycle, go for it. But stop trying to make the rest of us make the same coices as you. I do not live 3 miles from work myself, I live 15 and I sure as hell will not be cycling or walking that!. As there is no public transport to work I drive and will continue to drive.


  • #89
    Glowing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,851 ✭✭✭Glowing


    spank_inferno wrote: »
    I do my bit, plug out appliances, insulated my loft, put in double glazing. But no matter how much I reduce my energy consumption, every single watt of power comes from a government owned fossil fuel burning power plant.

    That's true, but we DO have power over the amount of waste/rubbish we produce, the amount of heating we use, and the amount of petrol we use. We have to reduce our high energy demands before we tackle any new renewable sources ....
    spank_inferno wrote: »
    Responsibility for irelands co2 output starts and ends with the government.
    They should stop harasing the public and focus on harnessing the power of this very windy island!

    Yep - I agree here too. Again, there is no point sticking 30 wind turbines off the coast if we're going to be wasting half of the energy it produces.


  • #90
    Macha
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 6,391 Mod ✭✭✭✭Macha


    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    what to you think the purpose of your life is? Me, I want to enjoy mine. I dont want to spend hours walking somewhere when its more practical to drive. Do you want me to stop going on holiday because the plane emits carbon? or to stop watching tv or going on the net or buying things from the internet or doing anything enjoyable! Im entitled to be self rightteous I worked my ass off to get a degree and a good job and I dont think enjoying life a bit is a bad thing! I did 4 years of dreadful public transport in college so now if I want to drive my car to work...i will! If I want to go on a nice holiday I will!

    See I think there are quite a lot of things more important in life than the temporary satisfication of my own petty, sometimes superficial desires that have often been artificially induced by advertising! Would that extra top from ebay make me happier? Yeah but only for about 1 hour. How about spending a day sorting out a window box with herbs & tomato plants so I can eat some food I've grown myself? Much more fulfilling. Sure, I can buy stuff from ebay but its all about balance. We do not have a balance.

    You're right about the god-awful public transport. We need to make it easier for people to do the right thing. Look at Sweden & Denmark.
    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    If ye were all so concerned shouldnt you be off doing something constructive rather than being on the internet using up electricity?? Do you live in a tiny house to consume miminal electricity and oil? Do you walk absoloutely everywhere? Do you forsake things you enjoy like being on a social website? no.
    Really this is a very petty, childish argument.There's nothing wrong with being on a bloody social website!

    But just to prove you wrong: I personally have gone back to college to study environmental studies & plan on (hopefully) getting a job in this field. I don't drive, I cycle. I changed provider to Airtricity. I regularly take holidays in Ireland. I try to buy local, organic food. I've cut down on my meat intake & don't eat fish. If there is a ridiculous amount of packaging on an item I refuse to buy it & make sure I tell the shop why. I live in apartment, near public transport and near where I go to college so that I don't have to drive. I could go on..
    Sugar Drunk wrote: »
    This is what puts off so many people - this dogmatic nanny attitude ' you shouldnt do this', 'you cant do this', 'you must do this'. rather than trying to compromise with people which I think people would be happy to do. I am happy to make small changes and compromise but I will not be told to change my whole life just because some of ye think I should.
    Well..I think you should look around and see how 90% of the world's population lives and then ask yourself if the things you are doing are compromises or really little things to ease that itching conscience.

    Seriously, I'm not saying I'm perfect but sometimes I meet people who just think unplugging their phone charger means they're doing their bit for the planet. They leave me speechless..


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  • #91
    Sugar Drunk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Sugar Drunk


    taconnol wrote: »

    But just to prove you wrong: I personally have gone back to college to study environmental studies & plan on (hopefully) getting a job in this field. I don't drive, I cycle. I changed provider to Airtricity. I regularly take holidays in Ireland. I try to buy local, organic food. I've cut down on my meat intake & don't eat fish. If there is a ridiculous amount of packaging on an item I refuse to buy it & make sure I tell the shop why. I live in apartment, near public transport and near where I go to college so that I don't have to drive. I could go on..

    Seriously, I'm not saying I'm perfect but sometimes I meet people who just think unplugging their phone charger means they're doing their bit for the planet. They leave me speechless..

    fair enough but if that was my life Id be very depressed!


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