So pitch your theory!

[FarmerChick]

I don't want to argue, FarmerChick, but could you really find another country that consumes as much per capita as America? Not trying to bash my fellow countrymen, but it seems like part of fixing the problem is clearly seeing it. Plus, when we clearly see how much we consume, maybe we can also see that other citizens in other countries live wonderfully well without using as much. (I'm thinking Scandinavia and Europe here, not impoverished Africa or India).

Also, those countries that are devastating their environments to grow crops, who is buying those crops? Pretty sure it is us here...

oh I know you are probably right. we probably are the biggets consumers on the planet...of course I am not sure of that cause I just don't know the true facts of that info.

but all I was saying is that we bash us all the time. people are everywhere in this world using and buying and doing all "we" do also.

while I agree we buy alot to consume, again, we are not the whole planet.....we don't "buy it all" by any means. So those crops feed more than just America, and America feeds alot of people also.

and yes you are right, as a world leader type country we should be setting examples of good things to do, not "what not to do".



I guess I want to say that it is not only "us". Americans do think of themselves as top dogs....but in general ALL of mankind must work together ---even if we do our part, others must do theirs.

UGH---I know I am not wording this right or trying right to say what I want to say..HA HA HA

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, yes, in a way every country is contributing and some are catching up to us in terms of impact. The problem though is that a lot of them are trying to emulate our standard of living.

Many other countries don't want environmental policies like ours because it will negatively impact the revenue they can generate by selling us their natural resources.

 

[me&thegals]

You said it very well, Farmerchick!

I guess it became stark for me when I started reading about the horrible pollution in China. When I realized that they were just on their way to using as much as we do, I was horrified. If the whole earth does this, yikes!

 

[Big Daddy]

Big Daddy---it is never just "Americans" who are wasteful. It is everywhere in the world. We are not the only excessive users on this planet....LOL-LOL------I just wanted to say that cause I hate that we trash ourselves all the time. The word "people" is better than Americans.......not fighting or anything, just a pet peeve when I read about "us" being the worst. I don't think we are....I think it is a kinda even playing field for alot of countries.

Your right, to some extent. What I should say is that we are consuming far more than our fair share. More consumption equals more pollution with the exception of places like China that have just started putting controls on their pollution. I believe we're one of the only countries in the world that has 2 to 3 cars in most families. We are generally a wasteful country. Sorry I do love America and would not want to live elsewhere but I am not blind to it's faults.

To VT
As for God giving us the earth to use. If we are supposed to be stewards we should watch out because were trashing his garden. He will take it away, then we'll all be floating around in space. Yes trees feed on carbon. If the rain forests keep disappearing what happens to the carbon then? Obviously we're putting out more carbon than God designed the trees to handle. Global warming may be a natural phenomenon, but air, water and soil pollution are not.

 

[FarmerChick]

COOL Big Daddy

I hear ya loud and clear

 

[FarmerChick]

You said it very well, Farmerchick!

I guess it became stark for me when I started reading about the horrible pollution in China. When I realized that they were just on their way to using as much as we do, I was horrified. If the whole earth does this, yikes!

yea I know!

if everyone copies us, then we are done for in general with pollution standards and such....BUT again they have every right to have what we have in this country. Why shouldn't they?

But on the other hand, will they be smart enough to realize that our country must cut back our usage. We are now trying to go backward a bit and they are trying to get where we are.

heck most of the junk is manufactured in their countries....without our consumerism they would have no jobs.....so just a nasty cycle again.

Remember though, alot of countries are us now. Not every country is backward by any means at all.



honestly I don't have a real clue how to fix this mess...HA HA HA
I just know it is a downward slide when humans are involved. UGH

 

[Big Daddy]

Sometimes I feel like tuning out. It seems like there are no solutions. Back when gas was coming back down again, I was talking to a woman while pumping gas. She couldn't wait for the gas to drop some more so she could start driving her Suburban to work again. Then all the drill baby drill stuff during the campaign. So many people just want cheap fuel so they can drive wherever and whenever they want. When prices drop conservation goes out the door for a lot of people. Someone has to put the brakes on. A lot of people just aren't willing to make the sacrifice until they have to because there's nothing left or it cost too much.

JMSO

 

[FarmerChick]

I want to tune it out also.

It is such a huge problem and long term futures are affected....and little changes now aren't going to help ---we need monster changes and fast.

BUT I guess we can hope cause I keep teaching my daughter to turn off lights, don't run water, etc. etc. She gets it! And her school is teaching alot of "green" things....but hmmm...I sure see alot of waste at that school!!! Teach it but don't implement it..Hmm...

Next generation hopefully will be more and more aware if it isn't too late.

I don't want to think too hard on this gigantic topic...it makes my head hurt..HA HA...seriously!

 

[sylvie]

CFLs are a good example of change we could voluntarily make or have mandated for us(Australia). I personally don't want nothing but CFLs because they don't work for all applications and LEDs are rising to higher performance levels.
However, CFLs and LEDs aren't going to warm my chicken's waterer in single digit weather. I still want incandescent for some applications.

If we make and embrace conservation changes to avoid government enforced mandates then we may continue to have choices and selections.