Anyone else fed up with green freaks and tree huggers?

Question

Or am I the only one? I refer mainly to the folk who come on here and berate others for polluting the atmosphere and generally destroying the earth when they are using a PC which is powered by energy which - in the main - is produced by fossil fuels which harm the environment. I certainly hope these same do gooders never watch TV, drive anywhere, catch a bus, heat their houses, eat fast food or perform any other task/activities which would involve harming the environment. Surely only those who avoid all of these things have the right to criticise others?

Oh and as for the scientific proof behind all the global warming etc......would these be the same doom mongers who predicted mass death with bird flu and the SARS virus??

Answer 1

You are NOT the only one. Who says we are 'damaging' the environment? Did the Chiqxulub meteor 'damage' the environment when it hit 65,000,000 years ago? No - it CHANGED the environment, and environmental change is remorseless, inevitable, ceaseless and utterly unstoppable. If we humans make our own environment unfit for human (more correctly, mammalian) life well tough cookies, it's time for the cockroaches to take over. We had our shot and we blew it, and we join the very long and expanding list of extinct species. Do you think an Anopheles mosquito cares about the 'environment' when she bites a human, injecting them with malarial microorganisms? Nope. If she thinks at all, she's thinking of a nice bellyful of human blood. It's the same with us and the planet - we are not destroying the planet, and it is the height of vanity to think we ever could. We are slightly - and I do mean slightly - changing the conditions of life on earth, and the planet itself will shrug us off like, well, like a dinosaur. The fact that we are shitting in our own nest instead of being wiped out by an outside agency is irrelevant. The changes we have wrought are not 'disastrous' or 'bad' because those terms are subjective and emotional; they are changes, pure and simple. If the polar iceaps melt and the oceans rise by projected maximum of 68 metres that's tough if you're a polar bear or you live 67 metres above sea level. If you're a basking shark or a killer whale it's so much extra real estate. "Global warming" has resulted in population explosions in tropical and semi-topical insects, fish and small mammals throughout the world. My garden is full of orb weaver spiders - I hardly saw one last year. Do you think they're complaining that a few hundred polar bears have bitten the dust? I would go one further and say even if it was desirable to stop the 'damage' (q.v.) we cannot - we have set in motion a chain of events that is completely unstoppable and the only thing we have to look forward to is extinction as a species. So what? Do you think the Tyrannosaurs had a choice? Think they gave the dodos "Extinction? No Thanks!" t-shirts? They didn't get a say in the matter and neither do we. What makes humans special, or even different? The crocodiles and termites are waiting to take over folks, you've had your turn and if you wouldn't mind you may now quietly leave the stage.

Answer 2

Correct, you are the only one.

I confirm never watch TV, drive anywhere, catch a bus, heat my houses, eat fast food or perform any other task/activities which would involve harming the environment. I've also never used a PC

Its human nature for people to scare monger and exaggarate fi they feel thier voice is not beng heard. They will continue to do this until the world wakes up and listens.

Oh yeh, why not throw the veggies into the argument as well. "Bender" sure is doing your arguement the world of good. I guess you two share intellectual debates at the weekend do you ?

By the way, you obviously have no clue how avian flu works. It is a risk during migration only and so we are now moving into the risk zone for all our poulty. So the risk certainly hasn't gone. The current increases in bird flu each migration period are following the patterns that existed before the other mass outbreaks. So there is cause for concern over bird flu.

Answer 3

"Oh and as for the scientific proof behind all the global warming etc......would these be the same doom mongers who predicted mass death with bird flu and the SARS virus??"

Actually, only a few fringe scientists said anything like that. The consensus position was that it was a serious threat, but not one likely to become widespread if we took precautions. Which we have.

Just like only a few fringe scientists think that global warming isn't real. The consensus position that it is a real problem is very clear and held by 99+% of climate scientists.

And it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Most of us treehuggers want to use technology, we just want to do it better. We want energy sources other than oil to be developed and gradually adopted. We do some things that help, like using compact fluorescent light bulbs or driving more efficient cars, and trying to use them less.

You can work to protect the environment and still live a modern life. Or you can be an "anti-environment freak". Your choice.

Answer 4

Can I berate others as my electricity comes from a wind turbine, I don't drive, I catch a bus about once a month, and I don't eat fast food?

For me it is not about being a do gooder it is more that I wan't my kids to have the best I can give them. How much more scientific proof is needed before everyone becomes tree huggers? Almost every scientist who works in this field will agree that climate change is happening and that it is mans fault.

Answer 5

Well someone has to make an effort to retain whatever is left of the natural earth. In time if left unchecked the planet will look like something out of the movie Road Warrior, or Terminator. Or maybe it will look like the Planet Mars. All people care about is their precious technology without a care for the earth that actually feeds us. So far our air is polluted, our waters are polluted and our soils are becoming not only depleted but are taking on tons of air pollutants that settle down on them. The Air is toxic! Wake Up!!

Answer 6

If the people spouting about Carbon dioxide emissions and all the rest of it actually ACTED on the things they are spouting about I'd take some notice of them.
For example as so much pollution is due to aircraft - particularly their dumping in the upper atmosphere - then why do T. Blair and G, Bush fly about so much - is it solely for the photo opportunities?
For goodness sake stop spinning and start acting.
RoyS

Answer 7

Personally I don't get fed up. It's like a lot of single-issue groups. Some of their members can sound extreme, but it's generally good that they're there, standing up and being counted. And the fundamental messages behind it are important even if the way they sometimes come across can seem "obsessional".

I think it's important that people feel strongly about an issue such as the planet. For some, it's THE issue and that's a good thing. The rest of us kind of agree without really doing anything about it.

Answer 8

If you want to s**t in your own nest, fine. Don't try doing it in mine.

The assumption that if you do some things that do harm or aren't ideal, it's automatically OK to take it to excess, borders on the childish. It's like saying that if you have a beer or two, you shouldn't object to people who get roaring drunk, pick fights and throw up in the pavement.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Answer 9

Yeah! I agree! My sister was going on about capitalism and I said "Hey I blooming well LOVE going to my office job in my new car with the air-coonditioning on full blast! And I couldn't give up Internet and broadband tv, could you?!?" She just sat there with her gob hanging. I am particularly sick of greenies, as I am the offspring of hippies who have done everything hippy-ish and eco I just want people to be straight and normal and stop freaking cos I let the water f-ing run when I f-ing brush my teeth!

Answer 10

Jesus, I bet they're not short of a dumb *** in your town are they. The science is sound. I've studied it. I work with it. Saying you can't criticise the way governments organise energy policy because you use energy? clever. People who criticise with no knowledge of the subject SHOULD become endangered.