Title: Green idealists fail to make grade, says study
Category: Environmental
Posted By: stemmer
Date: 2008-09-26 04:31:54

   

No surprises there.

   

I wouldnt trust them to make a poopie, let alone a passing grade.

   

It's really a criticism of the upper middle class lifestyle, should you take the time to read the article. It's really a problem of conspicuous consumption...people jetting off on vacation.

   

Yeah.. that Al Gore with his smoky private jet, sprawling homes and Arctic Char lifestyle..

   

I've been saying that if Canadians' concerns are in order:
1. Economy
2. Environment

The trick is to not take more money away from people, so they can worry more about #2.

Of course, if people can't get past #1 until they can afford to take a couple of long haul flights a year then the point is kind of moot.

   

The economy and the environment are deeply intertwined, Faile. Nicholas Stern showed that, so have dozens of other economists. Separating the two, as those on the political right love to do, is really just another way of privatizing profits and socializing corporate costs.

   

The upper middle class? What exactly do you consider upper middle class? People who've worked hard for what they own?

   

Those who can afford to indulge in conspicuous consumption, Shep. The working class work hard for everything they own too, but they can rarely afford to hop on a jet and go skiing. The lower middle class and middle class can rarely afford such vacations. The upper middle class has the disposable income to do so.

Or are you using that old elitist lie that only people that have money work hard?

   

Ideals and gestures are nice, but when push comes to shove, people won't make the sacrifice.

Kind of like the Liberals and Kyoto.

   

That's one reason why the NDP wants to make everybody poorer!

   

I was in management for a long time, in a manufacturing
company...I wasn't blue-collar, but I was never "upper
middle class" from a point of view of conspicuous consumption,
jet-away vacations, etc.

What I see now is PHENOMENAL conspicuous consumption..there are
'vacation homes' going up in the southern Georgian Bay area of
5,000-12,000 square feet...they are occupied one or two weekends
a month at MOST...they are heated and/or cooled 365 days a year...
there are gas-fired generators that kick in during power failures,
'essential/security' lighting is on inside and out, 24/7.
Three and four car garages are ready to receive the Hummers
and Escalades that bring the citiots up. Also in said garages
are a couple of snow machines, a couple of ATV'S, Seadoos, whatever...
Every hobby needs fossil fuel power to truly get the fun going.

We Great Unwashed are constantly lectured about energy
consumption, while these folks' vacation palaces WASTE more
energy a month than the average household uses in total.
I just wonder why I need to sit in the dark with my furnace
turned down to satisfy the Armageddon-spewing eco-freaks
and their endless rhetoric. Enough to make you want to
shove an old beer frig up David Suzuki's ass.
I'll bet there's room.