I love how you all are so quick to point out that it's so easy to switch to a fuel conservating vehicle. I've made this point before and I'm not hesitant to make it again. It would cost me more to drive a 35mpg suzuki esteem that it does to drive my 13mpg ford bronco. Stats: Code: vehicle: Bronco Esteem gas: $200 $70 loan: $0 $180 insurance: $103 $240 total: $303 $490 So if you guys want to send me the extra $187 every month, I'll go get the suzuki... or any other car for that matter. Until then, don't tell me how to live my life, okay? And back on topic, what kind of repercussions will occur if drilling does start in those areas? Because last I heard, the only wildlife in the area was caribou...
This is a bad example and you know it. Everyone here knows how incredibly shortsighted that example is. If your 13mpg Ford broke down or got hit by a meteor, you would have to take a loan to get a new one, so that would add to the cost. Just because you have a paid off car vs. buying a new one doesn't make it a valid comparison. With that logic no one here would ever upgrade their CPU's. Better the P3 800 that is paid off, then a new 3200+ winne. And the Suzuki is a crap car. I would make the point that both those cars are crap for the environment and for oil consumption in general, the larger point being that you don't have a viable 3rd or 4th alternative. You have to pick between one gas eater or another. I notice you didn't put a hybrid from Honda or Toyota in the example. But they really aren't a choice for you either, as there isn't a developed second hand market for them. Again, part of the larger point. Hybrid cars are a yuppie novelty, not a real alternative. If every car manufacturer were to offer 2 hybrid models, you wouldn't have this dilemma. Again, part of the larger point. And if you suddenly had to pay market value for the gas, that example would suddenly change drastically, the extra insurance and the loan would look like a good deal compared to what you would be spending on gas for the Ford. Again, part of the larger picture. I know the point you made looks sound, but you have to admit, it falls apart the minute you take it outside of your personal space. There are larger issues here then what saves Ubermich the most amount of money over the next year. It's about what is viable for the next 20-50 years and what we are going to be doing then that we could be preventing now. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all that crap. As for the wild life, come on, even a stoner that watches the discovery channel waiting for the pizza guy can tell you that there are more then just caribou there. Birds of prey, rodents, wolves, blah blah blah. The list is long. I think in the year 2005, even the most hard bitten yahoo has realized that it's more then just one animal and that once it's all messed up there isn't any going back. There isn't any, "Opps, maybe no one will notice." Destroying an ecosystem is permanent. The cumulative effects of destroying many hundreds of micro ecosystems add up to destroying a macro ecosystem. Even the most stick-your-head-in-the-ground person knows that the rate at which we are destroying is of many magnitudes larger then the rate at which life can adapt and regrow. It is no longer a matter of if, but of when. And many of the when scenarios take place in your life time. Let's hope you don't have to take a loan to replace the Ford by then.
I was not saying go out and replace it now, but if and when you get the chance pick something that gets better mileage, and less emissions. Sounds like you have an old 70's Bronco built in the "bad old days". My problem is with the person that goes out and buys the 4 wheel drive suburban and doesn't tow, haul, or own anything but a condo in the city. It is an obvious waste for the sake of a status symbol. I have nothing against someone who actually uses it for his farm, or to go hunting and drives it during the week because he can only afford 1 car. I am not a "Green Freek" just practical minded. Part of the hollywood bling bling should make some of the bling a hydrogen/ hybrid or biodiesel powerplant. I think humanity is going to go the way of the yeast in beer. we may be killing ourselves with our waste. like the yeast in beer kills itself with waste alcohol. I do not like the idea of drilling in ANWR because it will only give oil for a decade at the most. It is remote and far away enough that the oil companies will get away with ingoring any "expensive rules" they can. I have seen what people do to places they occupy in large numbers, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and some places in the rockies are more Theme Parks than real woods and wildliands. I grew up where you could go on a day hike into a wilderness area where you did not trip over someones beer bottles or tiretracks. The national parks around SoCal just don't compare.
