Filed under: Green Culture, MPG, Carbon Offset
Newsweek: "Save the Planet-Or Else"
It's a bold cover tagline: "Save The Planet - Or Else." And Newsweek found the right man for the image: Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has that movie star action hero aura and a more-recent green image. Two sections of Newsweek's latest issue (on newsstands today) will probably be of interest to AutoblogGreen readers.
First, Science Editor Sharon Begley's discussion that even curbing CO2 emissions won't be enough to get us out of our mess. Begley describes other ways (carbon sequestration, for example) to make the air cleaner.
Secondly, the "How to Live a Greener Life" section, which includes knowning yourpersonal carbon footprint and these driving-specific tips:
- Buy a greener car by using EPA MPG rates and learning about tax credits.
- Use public transportation more often: "You can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,590 pounds per year if you leave the car home two days a week and take public transportation instead."
- Use carbon offsetting to clean up after your car.
[Source: Newsweek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
George Christodoulou 5:47PM (4/09/2007)
Ahhh...action against pollution on a News Week. This is great. I wish more people would get into clean efficency rather than dirty full gas powered cars.
Thanks,
George Christodoulou
( http://electricvehiclesite.com )
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frank78 9:32PM (4/09/2007)
Like everyone who reads this blog, I'm all for 'greening' up my life where I can. But once politicians get involved in as complex of an issue as this and try to legislate human behavior and the economy, the law of unintended consequences usually takes over. That is, once politicians get involved, they may have great intentions (or good PR), but the results end up being worse than what they were trying to help. The cure ends up worse than the disease. So I think we should all get shivers when we see powerful politicians meddling in these areas.
Well, the upside is that the combination of the 2 most powerful forces will lead us to greener driving within 10 years- the free market and technology. Diesels are coming soon (help energy independence)and within 10 years there will be a number of PHEVs and EVs to choose from. PV research is looking phenominal in the last 3-4 years, so that in 10-15 years time, PV cells will be cheap and efficient enough to make economic sense all over the place.
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Chris 11:06PM (4/09/2007)
frank78, politicians have a lot more work ahead of themselves in order to fix old legislation to get with the renewable times and to give renewables the spur they need. The problem is that society likes to continue the status quo (since what we do now is 'good' and accepted) which leaves anything new as being 'bad' and 'new pollution' or 'hassle'. All we have to do is look at what other nations do for energy and environmental controls to realise how far behind the times we as Americans truely are. This is exactly why I am proud to have a 'foreigner' as my governer.
Congrats AutoblogGreen on being on the front line of renewable fuel news. I love that you fellas realize that renewable fuel means renewable electricity as we see more and more EVs and Plug In Hybrids being readied for 'mass consumption'. Maybe its time for a renewable energy blog site to accompany Autoblog and AutoblogGreen...
Good job Sebastian.
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ebuy98@yahoo.com 11:55PM (4/09/2007)
would arnold give up his Hummer if he didn't become a Governor? Not a good candidate 2b on the front cover...
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frank78 8:42AM (4/10/2007)
My point was that once politicians get involved, they almost always screw it up royally. It ends up being all about themselves in the end- how to get re-elected or how to tax the crap out of the citizens to look like something is being done, when almost nil is. Look at Arnold's socialist health care proposal: it will be mostly paid by the entire country, not California, it will cause health care prices to go up even faster, and is it really going to give anyone better health care???
What has politicians getting involved in the green energy world gotten us?? Corn ethanol, which is little more than a way to buy votes in the MidWest. It's a waste of time, money, water, fertilizer, subsidies, it's inefficient, it causes inflation on other farm products, it's hurting Mexico. That's the law of unintended consequences- the 'cure' is worse than the 'disease.'
The free market will do a much better job than any political meddling ever does.
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Scatter 9:14AM (4/10/2007)
But Frank the politicians need to get involved in order to change laws to bring these technologies about. The free market would continue burning fossil fuels as much as possible if it had its way because it's cheap and that's all the market cares about. Having politicians involved is essential if we're going to make serious changes.
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jstein 11:54AM (4/18/2007)
While there is a lot of buzz around the important issue of climate change, there isn't much coverage about the impacts being made on 70% of the planet's surface - while ocean levels are on the rise, the state of our ocean's health is on a rapid decline due to large scale commercial fishing practices. "We've gotten an important wakeup call about the nearly 3/4 of the planet we celebrate on Earth Day- our oceans. Every day we learn more about the damage climate change is causing in our oceans, and what our oceans will be doing to us as a result. Scientists tell us it is vital to maintain healthy communities of animal and plant life to resist the stresses of climate change. The single most important thing we can do right now- in addition to reducing CO2 emissions - is to fish more gently, taking fewer fish with less destructive gear. If we don't, Earth Day 2050 won't be a wakeup call - it will be a wake for our oceans."Michael F.Hirshfield Ph.D. Chief Scientist, Oceana. "We really need everyone to remember the oceans this Earth Day because our oceans are in terrible trouble. The good news is that we can bring our oceans back from the brink of irreversible collapse if enough people join the fight." Andrew Sharpless CEO, Oceana. Don't forget the oceans this Earth Day! Help reverse the decline of our oceans at http://www.Oceana.org.
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