A Little Bit Of Earth Day Hypocrisy
[Guest post by Dana]
Happy Earth Day! This is how earth lovers celebrated Mother Earth at the Washington Mall:
So, since today is Earth Day, the White House took a moment to remind us of just how vital and precious our earth’s resources are:
Earth Day is as important now as it was then. Our health, our economy, our security, and our planet’s future are once again threatened by pollution and environmental degradation.
Our climate is changing, and that change is being driven by human activity. Every year, the United States pumps millions of tons of carbon dioxide pollution and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
…
We must all do our part to confront the dangers of climate change and to forge a healthier, greener, better world for our children—not just on Earth Day, but every day.
And leading by example, was *not* President Obama:
President Barack Obama is marking the 44th Earth Day with a carbon-emitting extravaganza, spending more than 15 hours on Air Force One and 15 minutes aboard the Marine One helicopter.
Not including his motorcades in Oso, Washington, the site of a recent devastating mudslide, his trip will consume an estimated 35,565 gallons of fuel.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy, burning each gallon emits 21.1 pounds of carbon dioxide, bringing the president’s Earth Day carbon footprint to more than 375.7 tons.
The White House did not respond to a question about any measures it might be taking – planting trees, for instance – to offset those emissions.
Further:
Boeing’s specifications for its 747 aircraft, which serves as Air Force One, include an estimate for fuel consumption of 5 gallons per mile. Tuesday’s presidential travel will span more than 7,100 miles over two continents.– more than one-quarter of the way around the earth.
Sikorsky, whose HV-3d Sea King helicopter flew Obama from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base, burns an additional 176.7 gallons of fuel per hour, requiring more than 44 gallons – about four times the size of a modern economy car’s fuel tank – for the estimated 15-minute trip.
Meanwhile, John-Climate-Change-Is-The-Most-Serious-Threat-We-Face-Kerry penned an op-ed that the president clearly did not read:
America is once again on a dangerous path — along with the rest of the world. Climate change, if unchecked, is an urgent threat to health, food supplies, biodiversity and livelihoods across the globe.
The solution to climate change is staring us in the face. It’s energy policy. If we pursue a global clean energy economy,we can cut dramatically the amount of carbon pollution we emit into the atmosphere and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
You might smirk, little polluters, but the earth weeps. Consider yourselves warned:
Make no mistake: If we let this opportunity pass us by, that may be the only thing our generation is remembered for.
For the children!
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (86e864) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:23 pmThat was all offset by some executive order that retroactively reduced carbon emissions.
JD (3b5483) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:31 pmI certainly can’t argue with this statement.
Pious Agnostic (4e1a81) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:40 pmIt certainly isn’t the thing Kerry will be remembered for. Gigolo in chief is closer. Kerry is what you find if you look up “phony” in the OED.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:53 pmShouldn’t they be eating locally grown food packaged in an environmentally-sensitive manner, rather than all this canned soda and fast-food?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:53 pmand STYROFOAM!!!1! Styrofoam on Earth Day is like watching porn during Mass.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:54 pmMight I ask how Dana finds articles in the Daily Mail? This is the British equivalent of the NY Post. Is it Drudge, or what?
carlitos (c24ed5) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:02 pmPrince Charles is another hypocrite, surprise, surprise.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3018985/Prince-Charles-makes-80-mile-trip-helicopter-just-days-urging-people-turn-lights-save-energy.html
What Glenn Reynolds said.
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:04 pmHere is the president’s earth day twitter message and accompanying pic. You will not be surprised that as always it is all about him.
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/591004613840543744/photo/1
elissa (d83127) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:05 pmcarlitos, Drudge has a link to The Mail. It’s a bit of a rag, but it does often have stories about the US that don’t see the light of day over here. It’s a bit Kardashian-centric however.
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:06 pmElissa – that was an airball
JD (3b5483) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:09 pmDoes North Korea get a kick-back on carbon credits because they don’t use lights at night?
mg (31009b) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:09 pmCarlitos, many intelligent, curious, engaged and educated people read articles from the Daily Mail. It is sensationalist by nature, it’s true. But amazingly the Brits manage to publish quite a bit of actual news and interesting photos that the American media seems to
elissa (d83127) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:09 pmcensormiss. When did you get to be such a snob?JD–that tweet kinda makes you throw up in your mouth a little, doesn’t it?
elissa (d83127) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:12 pmOr Sting,
http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/ecowarrior-trudie-prefers-helicopter-to-an-80mile-train-ride-7208317.html
But this isn’t the first time the Stings have been caught out. In 2000 the couple threatened the Ministry of Defence with legal action if a nearby airfield were to be expanded.
It later emerged Sting had twice used the airfield in question from which to roar off in his private jet.
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:14 pm“Member when TFG went 2 for 22?
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/obama-basketball-video-easter-misses-air-ball.html
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:15 pmAnd a little kid went 1 for 1?
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:16 pmAgree, JD. Appears to be lacking arc.
mg (31009b) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:19 pmGazzer beat me to that link. Man made climate change is exactly as real as his basketball skill.
JD (3b5483) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:22 pmWell, since we’re on the subject of Earth Day this is worth revisiting.
http://thefederalist.com/2015/04/17/what-it-would-take-to-prove-global-warming/
I especially like this part.
If there there is the barest chance of smoke, there must be fire. And how irresponsible must someone like me be to not vote for massive taxation to put out all those fires which must exist?
I wonder why the left tolerates my continued fire-condoning existence.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:48 pm@ carlitos,
Dana (86e864) — 4/22/2015 @ 6:48 pmWhat’s funny is, as elissa noted, the press here tends to censor the sorts of matter that might reveal the president’s hypocrisy or questionable behaviors, so if I read something about an issue and it appears “incomplete” or I think there is more to it, I’ll peruse the Daily Mail as sometimes it provides a fuller picture. This certainly speaks to the sort of “relationship” our press continues to maintain with this administration.
What if all the trees banded together and reduced oxygen output by 28 percent?
navyvet (c33501) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:14 pmDana, I am with you 100%, but I question the 21.1 pounds of carbon dioxide by burning an 8 or 9 pound gallon of fuel. We should probably assume that the DOE stats are to be used when shaming us, the public, for our un-green actions. Or maybe I am not seeing the complete picture here. Maybe someone can help me.
bald01 (9cd062) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:37 pmWhere do these people imagine they get the moral authority to shame anyone? Maybe Charles Manson.a
The shameless point their finger at me and shout “Shame, shame!” I’m not supposed to do anything other than laugh?
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:45 pmHopefully to honor the next Earth Day.
http://image.moparmusclemagazine.com/f/techarticles/engine/mopp_1001_3_different_ways_to_supercharge_your_mopar/25608269/mopp_1001_02_%2Bmopar_superchargers%2Bfront_engine%2Bdragster.jpg
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:49 pmSome of you may enjoy this trip down memory lane. Here are a few of the frightening predictions from the first earth day in 1970 that didn’t exactly pan out:
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/04/22/here-are-some-doomsday-predictions-from-the-first-earth-day-that-didnt-quite-pan-out/
It’s a nice sober reminder that scientists don’t always get it right.
elissa (d83127) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:55 pmL – A – T – T – E
L – I – B – E – R – A – L
____________________
L – I – M – O – U – S – I – N – E
L – I – B – E – R – A – L
____________________
But their intentions are good, their compassion is noble, their sophistication is wondrous, so their phoniness, hypocrisy and idiocy are excused.
Mark (607f93) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:55 pmYes, here is the real problem with global warming/climate change: nearly every public spokesman is innumerate. But this I mean not only do they not have any real math and are weak at arithmetic, but they cannot even understand orders of magnitude or generally tell Shinola from that other stuff.
The are the technical equivalent of people who move their mouth when they read.
Given this even numerate people who believe, or want to believe, are put off by the howlers that are put out as “fact.” Such as the claim by the UNITED NATIONS that the Himalaya snow pack would be gone in 50 years. You could, possibly, do that with a few thousand H-bombs (and the snow would still come back), but otherwise not bloody likely.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:57 pmOK, maybe a few hundred.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:59 pmhttps://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/590533001726951424
I proudly say this as a guy who drove a hopped up International Harvester Traveler with a bumper sticker declaring “We Race Farm Equipment.”
The EPA may not know who they are messing with.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:07 pmI think Insty had a link where auto manufacturers don’t want us working on our own cars anymore. Good luck with that. Oh, and SEMA.
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:15 pmIt is also cars. They want to make working on your own car illegal.
kishnevi (91d5c6) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:19 pm.http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/20/automakers-gearheads-car-repairs/
I guess they saw how well DRM worked for the music industry and got envious.
Your $100k, high tech, superbly fuel efficient car is going to be so much more affordable once you can’t work on it, Gazzer.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:20 pmEarth Day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sALC-Afm9SY
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:36 pmI’m an old school hot rodder just like you. I was messing with my latest, a 1959 British Ford Zephyr today.
Gazzer (758566) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:42 pmOh dear, a little Earth Day history I was unaware of:
Dana (86e864) — 4/22/2015 @ 8:44 pmthe one on the left is supposed to be for doing the recycles
the one on the right is for everything else
but they putting the wrong stuff in all the wrong places
this is so rape culture
happyfeet (831175) — 4/23/2015 @ 1:33 amI don’t know where you live, but on Sunday, April 26th, I’ll be at the Queen’s English car show in Woodley park located at:
6350 Woodley Ave
Van Nuys, CA
I’m bringing my 1967 MGB GT silver with red interior and the steering wheel on the right side.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 4/23/2015 @ 2:43 amGeorge Carlin: Earth Day
https://youtu.be/p5Miv4NHsDo
Language alert, he does use the F bomb. Still very funny.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 4/23/2015 @ 2:52 amI did nothing to to celebrate hippie dippy erf day. I feel no shame and sense no disturbance in the force.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/23/2015 @ 6:35 amTanny, when I lived in LA I went to that show every year. Now, I live in AZ so it’s a bit of a schlep. Thanks, though.
Gazzer (5bcc65) — 4/23/2015 @ 9:42 amI searched YouTube and watched Olympic women’s volleyball. With a particular focus on beach volleyball. Which I think is proof there is a God, he loves me, and wants me to be happy.
Hopefully much carbon was generated in the production of those vids.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 9:54 amHow I spent erf day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEjQ2Ttbs9M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyeFJHwSbWw
Women’s Beach Volleyball – Liliana Fernández & Elsa Baquerizo vs NED
Now, you may be under the impression I have less than pure motives for watching this. But eventually the sheer athleticism does dawn even on my neanderthal brain.
I’ve begun incorporating leaping into the air just for the h3ll of it into my workouts. But I combine it with knife throwing.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 10:17 amThe second video is about three and a half minutes. I lost count of the hugs. Apparently womens’ team sports involve lots of hugging. We never hugged once in all the years I played Rugby.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 10:20 amDealer maintenance is a crap shoot, even for traditional repairs. I had my 2002 F150 4×4 in for new shocks and after driving for a couple of days noticed something was wrong. I slid under the truck and checked the shocks only to discover that they weren’t attached to the frame! I removed the shocks to keep them from punching a hole in my truck bed, or dropping onto the pavement with worse consequences, and took them back to the dealer. They had a new kid working on the truck, and when they checked his work bench, they found the missing bolts, brackets, etc. Got a couple of free oil changes out that, but my faith in the crop of millenials they are recruiting to keep our crumbling monument to central planning and union pensions running has been destroyed. This kid has now been assured of a $15/hr minimum wage somewhere else in Seattle, so he’ll do ok for a year or two.
And the high tech side of the auto maintenance field is no panacea. My wife’s car had an array of warning lights come on which warned of all sorts of dire consequences. A slow trip to the dealer, and after twenty minutes of testing, they determined that the gas tank lid hadn’t been twisted far enough to be air tight. Problem solved! Next!
So now I’m trying to find reliable local shops to do the work, and with some success. It is incredible that farmers would place themselves in such a position of potential servitude. “Competition” won’t help them because who’s going to buy their old anchor? And they’d just be trading one master for another. This makes my battles with Windows 8 look like kids play. it is a road to serfdom.
We will all become “leasers” and not owners as this plays out.
Open source will be the solution, assuming people can make a living at it. Which reminds me, I need to make a donation to Classic Shell (the fix to W8.1).
bobathome (ef0d3a) — 4/23/2015 @ 11:38 amThanks Dana.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 4/23/2015 @ 11:45 amWhich is why my next car is going to be something I built.
Something where I know every nut and bolt. It can be done.
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/26/ford-unveils-new-140-coupe/
That’s a typo in the URL. It’s a 1940 coupe. New ’57 ‘vettes are also available, for those who aren’t Ford minded.
Aside, that’s what makes this video so painful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EunDiDKOLk8
Somebody sweated, bled, over ever rivet and weld in that ship. I understand weapons testing is necessary. But still, it hurts. And I know the Air Force guys who sank her didn’t have unmixed emotions.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 11:52 amThat was for bobathome @45.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 11:53 amIt wasn’t actually the Air Force who sank her. RIMPAC also involved torpedo firings. It was a worthy end. Still, it takes a toll on the boys who loved her.
Getting back to cars, I’ve concluded the only way nothing on my car is going to rat me out is to do things myself.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/25/technology/ford-speed-limit/index.html
They are building more and more stuff I don’t want to drive, and charging more for it.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 12:07 pmI have the last 9-3 that Saab made while still owned by GM. 6 speed turbo convertible. It was way overpriced, but the market uncertainty made it affordable to me. Really fun to drive.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 4/23/2015 @ 12:45 pmI was thinking of the last Toyota Camry I drove. Which, I know is weird. But the “sport” or SE version was/is marketed as a driver’s car. And on paper the specs looked good. But the computer controls overrode every decision I as the driver made. Which made the experience, something less.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 1:25 pmThe Nissan Skyline GTR apparently has a GPS system so it knows when you’ve entered the territory of the Fuji Speedway. So then the computers will let you have everything the car has to offer.
I find this very depressing.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/23/2015 @ 1:30 pmcarlitos – Saab 9.3 aero is still one of my favorite cars I have had. Loved it.
JD (349517) — 4/23/2015 @ 1:48 pmEarth Day co-founder killed, ‘composted’ his ex-girlfriend
Well he was going organic!
MSL (5f601f) — 4/23/2015 @ 4:54 pmI have had 2 of these. Both 6 speeds, and a lot of fun to drive.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:30 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvUqJW7fJo
In case anyone is interested, one of my favorite cars was a Nissan Bluebird back in Japan. 1.8 turbo and a five speed.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:49 amSorry, life is too short to drive Saab’s. Unless you’re a maggot infested, pot smokin’ leftist professor. Then if you can’t get a good used Volvo, get a Saab. Or a Smart.
Hoagie (58a3ec) — 4/24/2015 @ 8:05 amHave to respectfully disagree, Hoagie.
http://auto-classiche.it/tama_images/resize/large/12/saab-sonett-3.jpg
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/24/2015 @ 8:10 amEvery once in a while the Swedes bust loose and produce a car that I’d even drive.
http://www.auto-classiche.it/tama_images/resize/large/18/volvo-p1800-1.jpg
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/24/2015 @ 8:12 amAlthough I’d try to put a small block Ford in there, Sunbeam Tiger like.
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/24/2015 @ 8:15 amI’m sorry Steve57, but the Swedes don’t make anything I like…..not even meatballs. Now The Sunbeam, you got me on that one. I learned to drive in my sister’s Sunbeam Tiger. Red, black gut and cool as heck! And, I’m very partial to British cars. Yet I drive a Lincoln MKT and have a Corvette toy. Go figure.
Hoagie (58a3ec) — 4/24/2015 @ 8:37 amYes. My choice of car is an indicator of my politics, drug habit and profession. Good point.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 4/24/2015 @ 10:28 amNot even lifeguards?
Steve57 (cd6f9a) — 4/24/2015 @ 6:53 pmwhere is mr. nk
happyfeet (831175) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:01 pmwhile i wait i’ll enjoy a tasty diet soda what has been semi-sweetened with the delightfully crisp flavor of aspartame
happyfeet (831175) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:04 pm64.
kishnevi (91d5c6) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:12 pmI had noticed that, too.
You being in Chicago, I suppose you are the obvious choice to organize the search party.
yes yes i’m not far from him really either
happyfeet (831175) — 4/24/2015 @ 7:21 pm