When Green is Black

Green or Black?

I've lived a bit longer than many, not as long as some, and I've observed the craziness in the environmental movement.  First I want to say that God placed us in this world and we are to be responsible stewards of the environment.  I'm not against taking care of the planet although I am against many of the idiotic environmental blunders of the "green movement" that has been forced on us.

A few of examples I've been thinking about since they have been on the news recently.  The first one is the "plastic shopping bag ban".  While this ban is acceptable in some aspects, it is being forced on people and faulty data and information is being used to implement it.   While I agree it is a problem in the oceans and whales do digest them leading to their deaths, the United States does not dump their trash into the ocean.  The bags end up in recycling programs and in landfills in the U.S.  Why does a whale who ingested 20 "plastic" grocery bags that was dumped into the ocean by some other country dictate what American consumers can and cannot do?  When the bags were introduced, the "environmentalists" were behind it because of how many trees they would save - the same environmentalists who now want them banned.  Also many of the bags are degradable and non-toxic if disposed of properly.  The best solution is to have the bags recycled and disposed of properly implementing correct recycling procedures for the bags.  One of the biggest problems using reusable bags is the health issues:  Carrying meat in it then vegetables without proper washing in between.  This can spread bacteria within the store to be picked up by other consumers.  This is why one use bags were originally implemented in the stores in the first place.

The second item I have been thinking about is the new "electricity saving" light bulbs.CFL light bulbs save electricity but their disposal will not only create a mercury toxicity in landfills, they are also a fire hazard.  The two times I used CFL light bulbs, when they have burned out, both began to spark and created a fire hazard.  I stopped using them immediately (te first time I thought it was a "fluke").  CFL bulbs also contain mercury which is highly toxic and is environmentally unfriendly.  Last time I did the research, all of the CFL bulbs were manufactured in China and are definitely not the quality of American made incandescent light bulbs.   The move towards CFL bulbs is exactly the same as the plastic bag movement of years ago:  Environmentalists are not thinking of the consequences of the CFL bulbs and this will lead to a major mercury toxicity problem they will cry about in a few years.

Another example of how environmentalists do not think before they force implementation of their "environmentally friendly" unfriendly changes is in electricity.  They are against nuclear energy because of the waste storage issue (as well as the risk of nuclear meltdowns, etc.) they are against hydroelectric dams because of the fish migration (mainly endangered salmon) and because of the earthquake risk with dams.  They were the ones who promoted wind farms for "free electricity from the wind".  The same environmentalists that touted wind farms and wind energy are now complaining about wind farms because birds are being killed by the blades on the wind turbines.  They are also complaining because the wind turbines are noisy.  All this after many utilities spent fortunes building wind farms to be "environmentally friendly" at the insistence of the environmentalists.

Many people are purchasing electric cars to be "environmentally responsible" and not us the "fossil fuels" the environmentalists claim is responsible for "global warming" (I'll write about that one later)  While I applaud the measures in some respect, this is being done without thinking of the consequences.  While the president and environmentalists may applaud the saving of the fossil fuel and no carbon emission from these vehicles, when these vehicles die or are totaled in collisions, they are not able to be rebuilt or recycled.  All of the electric cars will be added to the landfill - including all of the batteries containing corrosive and toxic materials (I believe the cars have the equivalent of six regular car batteries?) which is a bigger environmental problem than if the car had just burned fossil fuels and was able to be parted out / recycled.  This environmental problem will be "discovered" long after billions of tax dollars will be spent installing electric charging stations along major highways. It's too bad Nikola Tesla was not taken seriously on free electricity cars when he was still alive.

Just because something sounds good for the environment on the surface does not mean that it is.  The consequences of changes need to be contemplated before implementation (too bad voters didn't heed that warning in the last presidential election!)  Many changes "for the environment" have made environmental "problems" worse, not better.  Before you make a change or support a change, do your homework for all possible consequences first.