Do you care about global warming?

Question

I have enough problems in my life to worry about it. Sure, I'm all for the planet and recycling etc. but the fact is I'll be long dead before I have to worry about it. There's not much I can do anyway, it's a by-product of a capitalist and greedy society.

And I'm not having kids, why would I want to contribute to overpopulation as well?

Answer 1

I understand what you are saying.

I would be willing to bet that you already lead a very frugal lifestyle and that you have very few places where you can cut back more without doing some real damage to yourself.

Let me give you an analogy:

The way I see it, cutting back environmentally is like losing weight. If you are already overweight to begin with losing weight is very healthy.

But if you are already anorexic and underweight and try to lose more weight you can do some real damage and make yourself very ill.


Like the underweight person, I suspect that you cannot cut back anymore without doing some real damage to yourself..

However there is something that you can do that will make a very big difference.

Because you already live a frugal lifestyle you have a great deal of moral authority to persuade wasteful people to cut back on their very wasteful activities.

I see the wasteful people as the 500 pound tubs of lard exhorting anorexic people to lose even more weight.

For example as hard to believe as it may sound there are some very wasteful people that live in enormous mansions that use over ten times the amount of energy as a family of 4.

Also these wastrels fly private jets allover the place. These private jets use ove 1,000 times the fossil fuel per mile as the most wasteful SUV.

As I see it these are the 500 pound tubs of lard that could stand to lose some weight.

If we can persuade these wasteful people to cut back dramatically on their wasteful behavior we can have an enormous positive impact.

I have identified three particularly wasteful people and I have been contacting their staff and I have been encouraging other people to contact their staff to let them know how disappointed we are in them when we see their wasteful behavior.

Please join with me in contacting the staff members of these wasteful people. Together we can make a difference and make a very positive contribution that way, since we cannot cut back any more ourselves.

The three very wasteful people that I have identified that live in enormous mansions and fly private jets are Nancy Pelosi, John Edwards and Al Gore.

If we can get these three people to live in smaller houses, no larger than 6,000 square feet, that alone would be an enormous positive contribution.

If we can persuade them to stop flying on private jets or at least fly on smaller private jets, that would also be a huge contribution.

For example if we can persuade nancy Pelosi to give up her 757 for a more fuel efficient Gulfstream V, that would be an enormous contribution.

If we can also persuade Al Gore and John Edwards to reduce their use of private jets or fly smaller private jets, that would also be an enormous positive contribution.

Together we can make a difference!

Answer 2

To say that you won't be around when the effects of Gobal Warming are actually gonna show up (if they arent already), and so u dont care about it , is morally and ethically wrong on your part. Do u want the suffering and death of millions of others on your conscience? If so, go ahead!! Dont give a damn!
and dont say its a by product of a Capalist and a greedy society!! If u cud do even a little bit 2 cause a change , even turn off the tap everyday as u brush , it'd go a long way in saving the world! And if u cud turn even one sceptic like u in2 sm1 who actually does give a damn about Global Warming, consider yourself 2 b an extraordinary Human. The Climate Crisis can be solved!! And we are the ones who can help do so! An indifferent attitude towards it wont help!! As Melissa Etheridge sang-I need 2 move, I need 2 wake up, I need 2 change, I need 2 shake up!!

Our planet needs our help most , now!! And 4 all that its given 2 us, its our foremost duty 2 see 2 it that we do our bit in protecting it, no matter how little a thing we do, every step counts.

I do hope u change ur attitude 2wards global warming soon!!

tc.., and Have a Nice Day!! There wont be many of these around if ppl have an I- DONT-GIVE -A -DAMN attitude 2wards our Home.

Answer 3

You are part of the greedy society. And so too, will be your rug-rats.
However, I am not about to blame the car so much as the deforestation and the flushing of sewage into the sea(which is probably killing the oceans) which are the lungs of the planet. And yet no study is being done in that direction. It is only in replacing cars with new ones. Sounds like a sales pitch, considering that the "70's car engine was more efficient than todays engine."putting out more horsepower per gallon of fuel" and some great gas mileage(mine got 74mpg). under the old technology.

There is no such thing as cleaner pollution.

Answer 4

I understand the frustration. But if we simply throw up our hands and say that it's a bi-product of capitalist society, we are missing the critical point that the society referred to here is us. Sure it seems overwhelming, but change is always possible: whenever it happens--anywhere, ever--change always starts with the self and emanates outward. What you have to do is decide whether or not this is an issue you really, honestly care about, then, as Gandhi famously wrote, "Be the change you wish to see." Acting from your heart will always make you happier and more satisfied--in this lifetime, right now!--than wondering whether or not you should do something, but doing nothing.

Answer 5

No, because we will adapt to any change that occurs, and I am not capable of stopping the change--unless you think I have the ability to change India and China's behavior.

For your information, I already conserve energy (I am far below average in consumption) and I recycle, but not because I am trying to stop global warming, rather I do like nature and try to minimize my impact upon it.

Notes to responses in this question:
People will try to convince you it can be stopped with minor changes--that is false.

Do you really believe that engines are less efficient than 30 years ago? Just 10 years ago I owned a car with a 225HP engine that got 20-22 mpg. Now I own a larger car with a 255HP engine that gets 27-30 mpg (30mpg is at 80mph). It could be higher but if I'm on the highway I'm going 80mph. When I drove about 60mph in France--same car--I got almost 40mpg.

Answer 6

Comprehensive Method to Reverse Global Warming:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/jamesbdunn?p=224

This method provides abundant clean electrical energy, enough for the entire planet.

This method provides the means to actively control the weather to elliminate severe weather damage globally; which is currently about 1 Trillion dollars a year in revenue losses and damage. Only a fraction of this is needed to build the system to the point at which it becomes financially self-sustaining.

It also provides a method to allow people to routinely travel in space, and to build habitats in space, on asteroids, on planets, ...

The problem with space travel is gravity. Getting from the planet to orbit. We have a method in the near future to allow for cheap and clean transportation to and from space.

We simply need to stop spending our natural resources on consumable enterprise and focus our resources on a sustainable future.

How does it benefit you in your lifetime? How would you like to travel worldwide for a fraction of the present costs, having interesting employment opportunities, saving your own life if a plant virus attacks potatos, corn, and wheat because global warming makes plants more susceptable to diseases worldwide. Helping to avoid destabilizing of our Government, if China suddenly doesn't have food, do you think they will allow themselves to starve?

Being responsible guardians of our natural resources is a necessary part of being human. The cow is not going to step up and curb methane emissions, we as people must make those decisions and have the tenacity to follow through and protect our world for the next generations.

Who knows, time travel might be possible in the future. If they need to populate a planet, you might be a desireable candidate. What qualities do you possess that future generations would admire?

Answer 7

I have faith in the capitalist and greedy society develop new technologies in the future. I suppose that sometime in the future, absence of a new plaque that dramatically reduces the world's population, the world's population will reach a level that technology can't accommodate. I predict that in five years all of you global warming alarmist will not remember today's global warming doom and gloom.

Answer 8

Yes, I care and everyone should care. If you do not clean or tend to the upkeep of you house, it will show in the long run and become unlivable if not taken care of. Earth is our home on a grander scale. If we do not take care of it, it will become unlivable. If everyone does a small change or take small alternatives in ways of living, it will make a difference.

You can even look at self upkeep as another analogy. If you don't take care of your body/hygiene, it will deteriorate faster and nastier than it should. Earth is the same.

Having the "It won't affect me when I am gone" is selfish. If the you went to a park and the people before you didn't bother to clean up after themselves because it didn't effect them since they were done would suck for you or anyone coming after them. It is everyone responsibility.

Answer 9

This is true, but really the most we can do (as individuals) is keep ourselfs from doing earth threatening things, because even if you are going to die before you'll be able to see it get too serious, you still need clean air and a safe environment for when you are here. Also, deffinately practice safe-sun exposure, that way you won't be blaming yourself if you get skin damage (or cancer) from global warming. Good luk!

Answer 10

Being a sceptic does not mean I do not care about the environment.

A booklet titled "On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research" [18], published by the National Academy of Science in 1995, provides us with a well-presented set of criteria to guide the conduct of scientists as they navigate their way through the difficult choices they have to make in the way they conduct themselves ethically.

"The fallibility of methods is a valuable reminder of the importance of skepticism in science. Scientific knowledge and scientific methods, whether old or new, must be continually scrutinized for possible errors. Such skepticism can conflict with other important features of science, such as the need for creativity and for conviction in arguing a given position. But organized and searching skepticism as well as an openness to new ideas are essential to guard against the intrusion of dogma or collective bias into scientific results."

Here, scepticism is held up as a virtue, in contrast with the hostile treatment afforded to sceptics in the climate sciences. But we also have this cogent warning against dogma and collective bias intruding into a science. This caution is directly applicable to those involved in climate change research as they have demonstrated numerous times a collective bias in their work, a bias that must inevitably contaminate the peer review process itself.