are you an 'environmentalist'?

B

BigWill

2,500+ Posts
on the nuclear thread on west mall, an all-around good guy, Seattle Husker, assures us that he's not "an environmentalist". sorry to put words in your mouth SH, but I assume you mean "I'm not tree huggin' wacko". Please elaborate if you choose to...not calling you out...I just found that statement interesting.

I pose to the board: are you or aren't you an "environmentalist" and why?
 
I'm not because I operate in my own self interests. If I move closer to work, it's because the commute saves me time and money on gas. If I buy a home near a new light rail station, it's because development and rising property values are likely to follow. If I ride a bike to work, it's because I need the excercise or have car trouble.
 
I care about the environment and get upset about things like over-fishing, sprawling developments without regard to aesthetics, loss of songbird species, clear cutting of forests, and loss of habitat in the world's rainforests. However, I would not consider myself an environmentalist.
 
I try to take every issue - including environmentalism - with a level headed approach.

For example, we recycle. I hate doing it because I have to lug the crap to the recycles station. But, there is really no excuse not to recycle. Same with energy consumption. No reason to leave lights on all over the house.

That being said, I don't buy into 90% of what the "environmentalist's" are saying. This current "go green" fad is getting a tad annoying. IMO, it's more of a product of companies latching on to a feel-good topic and possibly earning a profit by jumping onto the bandwagon first.
 
i consider myself an environmetalist - i abhor littering and dumping and much of what uninformed said.. my sister, who makes all of her own cleaners out of orange and lemon peels, doesn't think that i am.
 
I am an environmentalist because I get in my 3500 pound car and travel over Texas spewing out global warming emissions to go birding in natural places, and I buy coffee that is bird friendly, not coffee where they clearcut the rainforest for coffee plantations, so I'm a really green dude.
 
I would like nothing better than to have the opportunity to once again vote for Al Gore. Does that make me an environmentalist?

God bless Texas

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Environmentalist is a pretty broad label. Based on the philosophy and social movement, i would say anyone who cares about the natural environment and thier direct individual or collective effect on its present and future state is one. I am one.
 
I think I do all the little things I can (reduce, reuse recycle), but nothing huge(still own a car, don't get Organic food)
 
that's funny....i think i am more of an environmentalist than most who posted on this thread (with a few exceptions).....but i still think that AGW is an overblown sham for the most part.

at any rate, we recycle, try to get the environmentally friendly light bulbs. i replace old AC units with nice enviro-friendly ones in the homes i own. i do much to help out........

can't say i am an unqualified environmentalist like bozo.....but then again, i am sure Al Gore would claim the same thing....yet he uses about 50 times as much energy as i do.
 
It doesn't matter. People are so polarized that calling yourself one or not calling yourself one is meaningless at this point.

I just hope that we're not really headed to the place where it appears we're headed. But if I had to pick a label that describes my attitude about the environment, I'd say "pessimist."
 
I hate those power-saving twisty, fluorescent light bulbs that replace the incandescent bulbs. The light looks so institutional, like I'm at work or something. I wouldn't mind them if they put off a warmer glow like incandescent bulbs. Same for LED lights. They're great for electronics, but not for reading light. That said, I consider myself an environmentalist, but I'm not giving up my '81 Land Cruiser any time soon.
 
Bozo,
'without qualification'? whoa. How about some description of what makes you an environmentalist 'without qualification'? Do you buy offsets for your carbon footprint? What about your household KW per month in the summer months? Cars owned in your household? etc, etc.

I'm not challenging your strong statement, just wanting you to lead by example. So everyone else can glean what high standards it takes to have such a strong self-realized environmentalist outlook of his/herself. What makes you believe what you typed, and you don't have to be brief.

Do offsets pave over the high use/production of CO2 producing items?
 
Nope. To be an environmentalist I'd have to go out and pick up trash, plant trees, protest, slash hummer tires, adopt a lemur, chain myself to a tree, etc...
My car gets 20 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway though. I do use compact fluorescent bulbs. The light is uglier, but its brighter and lasts much longer. Having to fill up less and pay less for electricity is more important to me than my impact on the environment. I think dollar signs are the only thing that will cause Americans to really go green. Plug-In hybrids are going to be the next big thing, certainly not for everyone, but more so than the current hybrids. Of course some of them continue to have "thermal events." Also known as fires.
 
Genesis 1:29
God said, "I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food."

50% of water in the US goes to growing grain to feed animals. Nearly 70% of what we grow goes to feed animals.
The Link

I like the statement: "You cannot be a meat eating environmentalist."

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I love this one:

"I'm all for the environment as long as it doesn't get in the way of economic development"
 
The only way not partially to exhaust some scarce environmental resources is never to have lived. Anything we do beyond lying down outside to die exacerbates our consumptive nature. Where in the spectrum each of us falls in terms of minimizing his own footprint on the planet is a matter of choice. I do not compost my own feces, but I turn out lights. I care about the environment and consider its safekeeping a sacred charge from my Maker, but I am not the classical "environmentalist" to whom people like to attach political labels.
 
Good stuff Bozo. What kind of cars do you own, even though you are fortunate enough to not have to drive to work?

What do you set your A/C and Heater temps to in the relevant seasons? What seer rating for that A/C? Do you have solar panels, do you pay offsets for your CO2 usage?

BTW, how much gasoline do you burn per week in your lawn maintenance portion of your business, or do you use non-gas push mowers? Does your previous occupation meld with the environment like your current ability to stay at home seems to do?

I'm not trying to get personal except in the sense to see how your previous jobs or wife or someone must have raped the environment to allow you to stay home today.
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(you lucky bastard)
 
I think of protecting the environment in terms of making money. My only goal for protecting the environment beyond that is hoping that the human population can hit 3-500 million in the next 150 years. Of course, we are too stupid to accomplish that without massive chaos and suffering.
 
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