Oops. Sorry. I guess I missed the earlier link to that same article. Remind self not to skip all the links/eloquent scientific explanations.
I agree with a lot you say, Noojens. My biggest beef is really with the way the whole thing is being 'advertised'. It feels as though it is a big scam, which gets my hackles up immediately. I can't remember a time in my life (which has been quite a few years now) that the same arguments about the starving, illiterate, ill-served peoples of the world needing our assistance, and about how we had too much while they have too little, and about how there is too much pollution, species dying out, etc. have not tried to spur us into compassionate giving, to save the world from certain doom, on personal, corporate and governmental/political levels. The only difference now seems to be the 'cover story', and the fact that it has become blatently about 'special someones' making a bundle of money ... for, as I said, probably very little more change than there has ever been.
I rarely ever turn on lights as it is. My husband complains about that a lot and doesn't understand how I can sit in dark rooms all the time. I was trained to keep lights off as much as possible when I was a kid - it stuck, I guess. We have changed out some of the bulbs to be more 'eco-friendly' - to the kind that cost more, don't last much longer and which contain mercury which cannot be disposed of easily, and if you break one you may have to spend thousands to clean up the mess. We used to play with (at home and in school classrooms) mercury (and asbestos too!) when we were kids, and no one told us or our parents it was dangerous - we survived, although obviously my IQ was severely affected.
We don't run appliances like dishwashers often (maybe once a week or less, same with washer/dryer, etc.) I wear heavy sweaters rather than keep the heat up at anything near comfortable. We don't have air conditioning for summers - despite them being very humid here, and hot. We could afford those things but we can live without them. I live in a 1700s log cabin, not very posh - but loads of character.
Our acre is uncleared .. we give back more O2 than the people down the street with lawns. Anyway, we really are about as 'eco-friendly' in that regard as we can be, given we do live in a country where we can access electricity and do have appliances, etc. I don't feel guilty - and won't. I didn't choose not to be born in deepest Africa .. that was the luck of my draw. I have compassion, do what I can and wish things were different for others without even the luxuries I have .. but I don't want or think it is right to ask me to live like them just because they have less.
We were both laid off several years ago now with no job prospects. We get no government assistance of any kind, nor do we want any. That is part of our 'share' of helping since we could take that and don't. Our 2 real indulgences are tv and internet/computers. And I drive a lot .. I do about a 3k trip every few weeks .. to help take care of my 92 year old father in Canada. Don't have a choice there, until he dies. Can't bring him to the States because of healthcare costs and unavailability here. In fact, healthcare insurance is our largest expense here - more than our mortgage and utilities combined per month - for 2 doctor's visits a year. I pay more than a year's utilities bills for a month of healthcare insurance. How is that working out for me .. lol .. NOT! And we will lose that soon and pay even more with Obamacare - not thrilled.
Anyway .. that is off topic ... sorry.
Anyway .. I go on too long .. I am sorry. I promised not to post much, and I won't, after this. I just came on to see whether you guys had replied to my earlier post and was just trying to respond to your well reasoned implicit questions about whether I am willing to pay extra for electricity, etc. to help those who have less. The answer - yes and no. I am very willing IF and ONLY IF I truly can see that it really goes to the people to need it - directly and we can see results relatively quickly. It SHOULD be fast to get them (at least some of) the kind of help they need BUT watching that sort of thing for 50 years or so, I have never seen any improvement over there and one has to question why not, doesn't one? We have been paying taxes and giving extra through various means for those things for eons, with no visible returns as far as I can see. Politics! Corruption! They interfere constantly. Why would now be any different?
So, basically, I have seen too much and am just not gullible any more - not to imply you guys are, mind you. I just do not trust the powers that be any more - they have lied too often, failed too often, etc. I will help those who I can help directly, and who I see helping themselves. I will do my part to keep my lights off and my own 'carbon footprint' small - but I will never buy into the crisis stuff, nor the need to supplement the substantial incomes of powermongers who insist on setting bad examples and treating the rest of us like stupid paeons.
Anyway .. back to your very interesting scientific discussion. I am sorry to have interrupted - some of you are amazingly intelligent and knowledgeable about scientific matters and I admire you. I was and will continue 'listening' - and I thank you for 'the conversation'. I just wanted to make the point that, despite it being interesting, even if true, it may not be either practical or smart to actually be swept along on the tide of the crisis some appear to have 'created' (it really is just a new way of 'advertising' something that has been ongoing for many many years now) because the reality is, as I see it, we can do little, except the little many of us are already doing and we should not be 'told' we 'owe' others more than that, unless they can prove the monies will really get where they should get, do what they need to do, and we see change that is meaningful as a result.
Truly useful technological advances - home based devices of any kind - which result in energy efficiency, reduction of pollution, and self-sufficiency, I am all for. I will be an early adopter of those! Keep them coming. Capitalism (moderate) and energy saving can go hand in hand. In the meantime, though I don't live as I once did in the Yukon any more, we are a lot closer to 'nature' than most are in today's America, and I think that is more than enough. If everyone lived as we do, even with our computers and tv's (none larger than 21 inches by the way, and all LCD - they will be LED when those get cheaper), that would do as much 'energy saving' good as taxing everyone to give Al Gore a way to get even richer - and none of us would lose much at all IMHO.
I hope you are all having a wonderful time with your families today .. enjoying your turkey and trimmings, and eggnog! Gotta go .. I am worse than Tarot tonight - at talking on and on ... eek! Bye for now.