Comments Miscetal has made

  • pissed off


    A lot of us are pissed off, but since we've handed over control of "the homeland" to the "patriots" we may not be safe saying so.  Over the past thirty years, the theft of everything from public lands to the broadcast spectrum has gone into the hands of people who believe themselves to be called by the almighty (god or dollar, sometimes hard to tell) to rule over the rest of us.  

    And there is no effective opposition party: the logical people for that role themselves identify as elites.  

    This country was a wonderful, brave, imperfect idea.  It has always been fragile, and we may not survive as more than a wealthy shell of our former selves unless something is done very quickly: they have used our public lands and air, water, even put poisons into our cells - and now we are buyimg it back from them with our taxes.  We contract with them and their friends for infrastructure ranging from prisons to armies to ethnanol.  Suddenly they are going green?  watch them patent the sun.

    We've frittered away our attention on sexual politics and racial division while the very stuff of which the nation is made - its continent and its laws - have been stolen away.

    Miscetal

    On USDA secretary resigns; industrial-corn man takes charge posted 2 years, 2 months ago 6 Responses

  • and guess which midwestern governor suddenly...

    ..became "green" when the ethanol industry suddenly took of and grabbed lots of subsidies with it?

    ...and which state's former speaker of the house, a part-owner of two corporate "family" farms which receive large crop subsidies suddenly left his job to become commissioner of the state commerce office?

    Clue: the same state that was home to ADM's original headquarters: _ _ _ _ e _ _ _ a.

    Miscetal

    On USDA secretary resigns; industrial-corn man takes charge posted 2 years, 2 months ago 6 Responses

  • Adding to the List


    We're talking about people who have made the businesses they run greener: have we now got to prove that their products are harmless and politically correct before we acknowledge them for making it less destructive?  

    That attitude with really encourage a lot of buy-in....

    What are we?  The Pan-Global Environmental Church?  We could assign a period of penance and, if they become VERY good, prounounce them sainted???

    I like the attitude of the band Guster.  They've worked to green up their tours, don't use individually bottled water, use a bus that runs on wastebio-diesel, and proclaim the cause at every concert.  Rock On!On 15 Green Business Founders posted 2 years, 2 months ago 33 Responses

  • Everyone has to do what they will do

    These houses are wasteful and pretentious - and they already exist and will continue to be built (at least for a while).

    They HAVE to be made greener, either by building better or by remodeling with LEED or another certification.  The are people who are going to have these houses, come what may, and since the rich use and pollute more than the poor, we have to provide an incentive to go green, and remove real or perceived obstacles to them doing this.

    If LEED can get 5% of the homes in the Hamptons, for example, to use less than they do today, that's a good thing.  It might be better if they built smaller with quality, like The Sustainable House <ahref="http://www.livegreenlivesmart.org"</a>  to reduce habitat loss - but some gain is better than none - if they see that there are both financial and social payoffs to be greener, I am willing to set aside my personal abhorrence of such excess in order to avoid more.

    And once the wealthy have green homes, everybody will want one and the Handyperson's Guide to Greener Homesites will be sold at Target ---

    Later, we can tear the things down and restore habitat, but for now we need them to be the edge of the marketplace edge to help us drive demand for more sustainable "homes" - shelter from the storm, eh?

    The poor can't be the only people going green-er: it's not sustainable.

    Miscetal

    On Should USGBC certify a 15,000-sq.-ft. home as green? posted 2 years, 2 months ago 40 Responses

  • Sustainability begins at home

    30% of our individual impact on the planet comes from our housing.  The effects of location, construction, operation, furnishing and replacement come to about a third of the carbon imprint alone - without the other costs like water quality and localized environmental pollution.

    If we all make our homes less polluting by using more renewables and making better choices about other commodities related to Home, we will buy some time - we must do what we WILL do, since almost no one does everything they COULD do.  And that major change will help make the dominos fall in favor of commitment to preserving and restoring the earth.

    And we will be nudging the dominos through direct and indirect social and political action and collaborations with others more or less willing.

    We won't all be burned out on activism at the same time, and buying time by beginning with our shelters means we can rotate our burnout and temporary despair, each taking a turn and doing the personal best things while we recover.

    www.livegreenlivesmart.org

    Miscetal

    On Alex Steffen on individual action in context posted 2 years, 2 months ago 9 Responses

  • Sustainable Houses

    Well, not everyone wants to live in a village - not even millionaires.

    But we are taking a house in a very upscale community, and instead of tearing down this post-war rambler and replacing it with a faux chateau, we're rehabbing it to LEED standards.  We'll use it for the next several years as a laboratory - occupied by an ordinary family with a visiting elder.

    Renewable energy, sustainable building techniques, careful design and efficient insulation and a well-managed homesite will make this 2350 square foot 4 bedroom home on 1/3 acre one of the most sustainable houses in America - and it looks and works like a"normal" house.

    Check out The Sustainable House at www.livegreenlivesmart.org - and we would love to have you add your own homegreening project to our 50,000 Green Homes Initiative.

    This rehab, complete with learning curve and purchase price including lot, will come to about 600K - sans learning curve and with less redundancy, much less.  Tell us what you think - the average home price in this community is around  900,000....

    Miscetal

    On Because I know Grist readers love them posted 2 years, 2 months ago 3 Responses

  • I prefer the Green Grandma


    who has been seen hanging out at http://livegreenlivesmart.org/blogs/green_grandma/default ...

    She is SUCH a noodge - you just KNOW she is shopping the consignment shops, recycling Liz Claiborne and Ralph Lauren from two seasons ago, and saving the buttons from the jackets she cuts up to make into braided rag rugs...

    Miscetal

    On Danish model plans to go (quite literally) green posted 2 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

  • And what about the weaponry


    that German companies continue to sell into the most conflict-prone and environmentally fraught regions of the world?  and the 4WD Urban Assault Vehicles BMW and Mercedes are promoting in the US?  and there's that little problem of Germans buying up every bit of Grundstuck available zum verkauf all over the pacific northwest, and then establishing their Fauz Chateaux that they can't get permission for in Deutschland...  Nice that Merkel is noticing the glaciers - maybe she can get Autobahn behavior under control, eh?

    Miscetal

    On German Chancellor Merkel focuses on climate change posted 2 years, 2 months ago 5 Responses

  • We Need Many Points of Entry


    People have to be given things they can do, and things they will do, to save this planet home.  I find that a lot of people are willing to do the right things - they just aren't willing or able to invent them, or to work very very hard to figure out what they are.  And it's a lot more tempting to look at the Big Out-there for solutions.  But about 30% of our impact on the planet is due to our housing practices.  I'm working with www.livegreenlivesmart.org to get people to understand how easily, basically, or even comprehensively they can change their shelters into something that is greener, more sustainable and more comfortable and healthier for themselves and the world.

    If we could get 50,000 Americans to do SOMETHING to make their homes more sustainable, it would make a huge difference - and then a half-million homes would follow, because Americans like to get with trends and especially with virtuous trends.

    Consider joining the 50,000 Green Homes project at www.livegreenlivesmart.org

    Miscetal

    On On the climate change 'point of no return' posted 2 years, 3 months ago 9 Responses