Page 10 of 15
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:36 pm
by gulliver
The impending doom voices are hurting the seriousness of the science. and feeding the detractors though.
Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:49 pm
by Alan Evil
The think is the "impending doom voices" are right! Ten years from now is impending. Alaska is already experiencing serious problems because of climate change. The first set of islands has been swallowed by the rising ocean. Europe saw sustained winds of over 150mph recently, snow comes later and heavier because the air is not as cold, parts of the world are already in extreme drought which is only going to worsen. It's never going to be like somebody threw a switch and things go from normal to really fucked up just like that. But it's happening very quickly and avoiding working on a solution is cowardice.
One talking point I've heard from those in denial is "we can't conserve our way out of this." It's like saying we can't make 4 less by subtracting 3 from it. Let's enforce conservation in this country through incentives (like to the railroad system) and regulation like in the mileage of automobiles as well as disincentives like higher taxes on over the road trucking and reduced vehicle weights. If we slow down our economy a little I say it's a tiny sacrifice we all make. And if people really want to drive a gigantic Hummer on their daily 40 mile commute we should make sure they pay dearly for the priviledge.
But none of this will happen. By the time our politicians pull their heads out of their asses and does anything substantial things'll be so fucked up I wouldn't be surprised if we're in total chaos right about the time I too damned old to adapt.
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:00 am
by Crankmas
look at the bright side, when mankind is extinct we won't be talking about ignorant shit like gay marriage, what constitutes a good muslim, illegal immigration... ad nausem
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:45 am
by krampus
Alan, I completly agree with your statement about privatly owned hummers and large gass guzzling vehicles. Nothing pisses me off more than watching some jackhole in his hummer flying down the interstate like he would ever need that car for anything other than a substitution for a small penus, or (to be PC), envy of the penus. however, these extra taxes should not be placed on comercial trucks and transportation. I only believe this because damn near everthing our way of life is based on is the importing of goods, ie. the trucking industry. If you look at the price of diesel right now you can already see that truckers are taking the brunt of the oil price increase, and when our pumps get below $2, their pumps remain high. Seeing cheap gas might make us temporarily stop bitching to our officials but int he long run, the trucking industry will ultimatly jack up the cost of everything, because very few things would be available without truckers, if they get hit, we all get hit eventually, an probably harder than if we just paid higher gas prices. And there is also the usual argument that higher taxes on truckers would strain the smaller trucking companies and only walmart trucking would make it through the era.
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:57 am
by Crankmas
good job krampus you may now proceed to econ 101
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 10:05 am
by krampus
woohoo
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:34 pm
by dhoyne
I'm not reading thru 7 pages of this. I just have to say that it's damn cold today. I wish global warming would hurry up already so I can go climbing. That is all.
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 10:32 pm
by TradMike
Add a fuel surcharge. Everyone is doing it now adays. It's accepted on all invoices as a hidden charge. It's paid without question. If you know any small guys get the word out.
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:10 pm
by captain static
Not to worry anyone about the weather as the US Military will own that by 2025:
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/ ... 3c15-1.htm
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:34 pm
by Alan Evil
"Dammit, Captain, I'm a doctor, not an elevator!" Sorry. That's my favorite Star Trek line and I started to say:
Dammit, Captain, I really want to read that but don't have time!
krampus, We need to go from long haul trucking to trains and we need to do it quickly. Right now we (taxpayers and those that are going to be miserable because of climate change) are paying to subsidize long-haul trucking with our interstate system. Trucks are an amazingly stupid way to move large amounts of cargo long distances. Trucks should be used to pick up trailers at depots and used locally only. You want to talk about a gigantic political battle, oh man. If we dumped half the money we spend on our highway system into improving our rail system and bumped the taxes on long-haul trucks to pay for it we could force the market to do the best thing but nobody in Washington has the balls to even try it. Actually, Kucinich might but he's got hardly any power and he'll never be President even though I vote for him. Crap. Now I'm mad.
We had ONE cold snap this winter and the weather service is saying they doubt we'll see temperatures in the 20's again this winter. I saw a mosquito today. That's just WRONG, m'kay? I was used to mosquitoes in February in New Orleans but in Louisville!?!