Human being’s ability to delude themselves is quite astonishing. I did my usual 25 mile ride this morning from my house up into the foothills and back. Along the way I got passed by a dozen cars like the one above.
They drive up into the mountains to ride every weekend. Many of them have some sort of green bumper stickers on their car, and they imagine that they are somehow doing something good for the environment by driving their car 80 miles and tearing up the trails in the high country.
In the winter, they will drive 200 miles to Nordic ski in the San Juan Mountains. And they probably complain along the way about the stupid global warming denying rednecks at home on their sofa watching football. (Those Budweiser cans emit a lot of CO2.)
I can tell them from first hand experience, the emissions from their cars pollute just as much as everyone else. The fact that they imagine themselves to be intellectually superior has absolutely no impact on the air quality. And the Polar Bears would be just as happy to eat them as anybody else.
well lets not fall into the green line of thinking please. Maybe they drive up to the top of the hill and race down on their bikes. More power to them. If I ever get around to riding a bike again it will be so I can stay in shape, NOT so I can think I’m saving the planet.
The cost of bikes means I will never recover the cost of gasoline by riding instead of driving so I won’t even have that as an excuse.
If I lived inside a warehouse I could project bike riding as being really important… because I could smell the car exhaust. But then my warehouse isn’t filled with plankton and trees and little slimes and oceans and….rot and decay and …maybe there would be some decay where I didn’t clean, but you know what I mean.
And the Polar Bears would be just as happy to eat them as anybody else.
LOL!!
on their sofa watching football. (Those Budweiser cans emit a lot of CO2.)
I’m watching the Steelers and the Dolphins right now, but on my computer chair, and no beer. I’ll have some beer tonight watching the Vikings and the Packers—but please, not Bud. ;o)
(Oh ya, and I’m finishing up part 3 of GISTemp differences while doing it, hehe)
imagine themselves to be intellectually superior
Well, you have to do something to cover for human feelings of inferiority.
Amen brother!
The biggest pusher of global warming in my lab used to drive up the Poudre canyon to do back country skiing by himself on a regular basis. And I say used to only because he’s moved now, so can’t do it anymore!
Not only is that wasteful, but it’s dangerous too.
Same goes for most of the global warming pushers I’ve met in academia…there some of the highest frequency skiers I know. They drive more on ski trips than I do in an entire year! Many don’t bike in the (relatively) bike-friendly town of FoCo. Maybe it’s because they don’t have the energy to b/c they’re constantly preaching that we should reduce meat intake!
-Scott
10 points for the headline!
And for a really good example, I can commend your President:
“The officer said, “Obama’s contingent is huge. There are two jumbo jets coming along with Air Force One, which will be flanked by security jets.”
…
““We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.”
Sigh.
Cum on guys! You must think Ft. Collins leads the league in hypocrisy.
When it comes to acts of piety, Ft. Collins is still sucking hind teat to Boulder. I would bet the Prius density is much higher in Boulder than in Ft. Collins.
It makes you wonder how the scientists at NCAR can remain objective when they are surrounded by so many people with Politically Correct agendas. Ooops, maybe they aren’t.
This is perhaps the “conservative” side of green; “everybody else leave nature alone so I can continue to enjoy it”.
I’ve oft wondered that global warming can’t be a big problem given how little greens themselves are willing to sacrifice.
The only real thing that worries me is how little they seem to be concerned with the unintended consequences of their noble policies. This is where I’m more of a conservative, namely, don’t f**k with it if you don’t understand it.
I’m almost hoping for a resurgence of bad-ass religion to come in and teach them what real personal discipline and sacrifice is about. Old nuggets like, “practice what you preach”, “take the log out of your own eye”, “practice humility”.
The greens have an overdose of a sense of self-importance. They are going to save the world. Well, if they really cared, they would start by caring about truth. Hmf.
After the Grist poll do we have to start calling greens who polute “climate chickenhawks”?
corrected-
After the Grist poll do we have to start calling greens who pollute “climate chickenhawks”?