Comments featherfish81 has made

Yeah, I agree the problems associated with flushing cat litter need to be better publicized.  For awhile I flushed the cat litter, thinking it was better because I was keeping it out of the landfill and it was getting treated in the sewage system, just like my waste.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

"It doesn't have to be mandatory, yet. "  is exactly the sort of phrasing that scares me when the discussion of limiting family sizes comes up.  As Loraz said, it's one thing to educate people and to have them think about their choices.  It's an entirely different matter to insist upon it.  All life, including human life, is valuable, and forcing people to end a life based on what may happen in the future is over the top.  Nevermind the fact that this kind of sentiment could turn people away from the environmental cause, even some who are sympathetic.

This would work, if a linear relationship is assumed.  However, I don't believe anyone claims a direct linear relationship.  There are many factors in climate change that all must be part of the equation.

Does this mean that WalMart will now start selling local clothes, or clothes made with organic cotton?  Or will there be some sort of rating to tell us how clothes made in Haiti compare to those made in Indonesia or Jordon?

Related to this, I am considering starting a blog.  Are there green blog hosting sites that anyone knows of?

Since most of us have elderly relatives who would never get an Evite, you can also consider postcard-sized invitations.  I received one of these from a friend, and it had all of the important info on there, with a link to the website for more info.  And I think she made them herself, so it was even cheaper than ordering them, if you already have a good printer.

Do it Yourself Commercial Car Wash?

I assume that by commercial car wash, this article is refering to those places where you drive through the car wash (usually on a track).  How do the hand-washing places compare?  I'm talking about what usually amounts to a few bays with hoses where you hand wash, but then the water goes into a drain.  Are they also required to recycle their water?  What about the chemicals?On Umbra on cleaning cars inside and out posted 9 months ago 6 Responses

Problem more complicated

It's not surprising that there is no correlation between the two, because there are other factors that affect fuel consumption and vehicle miles traveled.  Some states are just more spread out, so the gas tax will have less of an effect in those states, for instance.

It would be interesting to look at the fuel consumption graph taking into account vehicle miles travelled.  Do people drive more fuel efficient cars in states with a higher gas tax?On What gas taxes don't do posted 10 months ago 5 Responses

Solar panels?

Thanks Tasermons, that explains one of my main problems with the movie.  I couldn't figure out how moving the trash around constituted "cleaning the planet," although I don't think incinerating all of the trash is a much better option.

My other question is if the planet was so polluted that you could barely see the sun, why would you make the robots solar powered?  It seems like they would have trouble getting enough energy to work.On WALL-E takes top honor and Quantum of Solace disappoints posted 11 months ago 8 Responses

Carbon Tax

Interesting, many economists I know support the idea of a carbon tax (or a carbon cap that effectively works like a tax).  Maybe we do hang in different circles.  The rationale is usually along the lines of what Ken was talking about - internalizing the costs of gasoline consumption to the consumer, allowing the consumer to make an informed choice instead of mandating that consumers must buy more fuel-efficient vehicles (economists like consumer choice).  The other thing to remember is that it takes awhile for the vehicle fleet to turnover, although the recent drop in SUV and truck sales should demonstrate that gas prices do matter.

And yes, the tax does need to be fairly large, but if it is phased in gradually that will allow consumers and energy producers time to plan and allocate capital expenditures accordingly.On 'What is a carbon cap and how will it cure our oil addiction?' posted 1 year, 1 month ago 13 Responses

Using in other stores?

I was wondering what everyone thinks about using reusable bags in different stores than the one you bought it in.  Is it okay to take a bag with the Kroger label on it into Shop Rite?  Should I buy another bag at Shop Rite (which seems inefficient)?  Or should I only shop at one store?  Thoughts?On Reusable shopping bags not so green if you don't use 'em posted 1 year, 2 months ago 7 Responses

Hurricanes and Climate Change

The biggest problem in using natural disasters as a rallying point for environmental action is that it discounts the other factors involved in weather and gives opponents more ammunition.  For instance, claiming that global climate change will cause more storms like Katrina is fine; claiming that Katrina is evidence of global climate change is bad science.  There wasn't a catastrophic storm in 2006 or 2007, so does that consequently mean that climate change isn't real?  While climate change will increase the likelihood of catastrophic storms, many other factors are involved in the number and severity of storms in any particular year.On Should environmentalists jump on climate disasters? posted 1 year, 2 months ago 15 Responses