In a post that got WAY off topic over at Music City Bloggers, #9 (the same nutcase I mentioned in this post) responds thusly to someone’s suggestion …

#9 is a freelance moron who’s worn out his welcome on several community forums in TN. It’s never his fault, natch.

If you can stomach it:

http://www.knoxviews.com/node/3506

http://www.knoxviews.com/node/3697

Following his eventual banning, he started a semi-regular gig co-blogging at “saysuncle.com” but he doesn’t quite get the audience that he craves – that is, the audience that vocally contradicts his k00kery. He needs your negative energy to reinforce his puckered, paranoid worldview.

Engaging him in conversation will only make matters worse. FYI. Forewarned is forearmed.

I feel perfectly good about the minor, but large, changes that Ian and I have made in our lives:

1. Only drive cars that obtain 30mpg or better highway mileage. We have a 2006 Toyota Avalon and 2004 Honda Civic, both of which easily reach those goals.

2. Replace all lights with halogen bulbs.

3. Conserve energy when/where possible. Don’t leave a faucet running unattended, don’t have the A/C set to 70 degrees on a day where the outside temperature is 90+, don’t leave lights on throughout the home, don’t leave electronics such as a computer or TV turned on when not using them.

All of these are minor changes that have minimal impact on my personal lifestyle, but they make a MAJOR reduction on the carbon footprint we leave behind.

As for those saying “all or nothing,” good luck with that

I’ll instead opt to purchase a membership to a legitimate organization such as http://www.terrapass.com and offset the remainder of my carbon footprint with an equal amount of financing for alternative energy studies.

-Gary

That’s what I suggest to people all the time. Can we make small adjustments to try to do better? Then let’s do it! We don’t have to be living in huts, all sackcloth and ashes to save the planet- we just all need to be doing what we can do that suits us best.

For example, I can’t take the bus or drive a scooter since I live in La Vergne and have 3 kids. So I drive a Honda Accord instead of a van or SUV. It’s a fairly minor adjustment in my lifestyle. If everyone would try to make these minor adjustments, we’d all be in a lot better shape. (and, as has been mentioned in the comments, save money as well)

Sorry for the diatribe, it’s just a pet, well, not peeve. It’s a pet, um, issue of mine.

And that’s exactly why I wrote this post. I have no idea if Al Gore is a hypocrite or not, because I don’t know exactly what he’s said about the environment. If he’s said no one should fly in planes or use electricity, then he’s a hypocrite, but if he has simply said people should do something to help the environment, then he’s not because my understanding is that he has taken steps to help the environment.

Ed Begley Jr may “practice what he preaches,” but caring about the environment doesn’t mean you have to live like Ed. I don’t suggest that anybody live like Ed unless they want to. All I suggest is that people find simple ways to live greener than they currently do. If you use/waste the equivalent of 7 trees a year (that’s the average for an American), then what I ask is that you find a simple way to perhaps use 6.5 trees next year. Most people won’t (or even can’t) live like Ed Begley, but everybody can take some small step, and if everybody does, the effect will be greater than if 100,000 Ed Begleys popped up throughout the country.

Other parts of the discussion were a lot more interesting.

Thats one thing you have to give Ed Begley jr. credit for. He isn’t mean or pissed off, and he lives what he preaches, and he brags about how much his lifestyle saves money.

And the right still writes him off as a joke. I have a huge problem with people (not pointing at you Glen, your comment just made me think of it) who insist no one can have an opinion about anything in this country unless they are first living the perfect life. You know, the whole “Al Gore is a hypocrite because he flew in an airplane” crowd. That’s bullshit.

#9 said I need to ride a bicycle to the grocery store to be taken seriously about anything. No, actually, I don’t. Bush lies all the time, that hasn’t been a problem for #9. Last time I tried to ride a bike in Nashville I was nearly killed. Hey maybe if there were more sidewalks I’d walk to the store more often than I do. Maybe if it wasn’t 100 fucking degrees outside.

It’s more than any of them would do, I know.
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