Are Environmentalists Destroying the Earth?

[Mahdi]

I'm all for the environment.  I believe in global warming, I beleive that we are destroying our planet, and I believe we need to do something about it.

What I don't believe in are the environmentalists.

Anyone who has me on facebook has probably seen (even if they haven't read) my note on CFL lightbulbs.  For the rest of you, here it is, and it's jsut the start of this post:

CFL Light Bulbs Will Kill You and Everyone You Love

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8:49pm Saturday, Aug 11, 2007 | Edit Note | Delete

Well, probably not. But it's a catchy title!

Everyone has heard of those CFL light bulbs now. Rick Mercer used to advertise them on TV a few years ago. Hell, you probably have one in your own house. they're those twisty light bulbs that use hardly any electricity and last for a decade. Here's a link to one on MSN's list of the ten easiest ways to go green (it is number one):

http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowBHG.aspx?cp-documentid=5138725&GT1=10324

By 2012 Canada and Australia both plan to have banned the regular incandescent bulbs from sale and these CFL bulbs will be the only option. Great news, eh? Less electricity is used, they last longer meaning less waste, what a great moment for the environment!

Except for all that mercury in them.

Yup, that's right, everyone

[nemafakei]

Hm. I've broken an Energy-Saving bulb and not had any mercury problems. Do all ES bulbs have mercury?

Even if they do, the way there's a lot to be looked at with regard to volumes of mercury, the way it's stored and disposed of compared to the byproducts of the electricity generation. It's context-dependent.

"Apaprently, despite the claims by environmentalist, not a single wild animal has ever been kill by choking or suffocating on/in a plastic bag."

Never heard this claim anyway, but I tend not to come across that section of the environmental movement.

"Almost every single plastic bag froma  grocery store ends up being re-used."

Perhaps, but the green argument isn't just once re-used it counts for nothing - if we didn't take so many bags, what we'd actually do is re-use the bags we do have far, far more often. At work, we throw bin bags out only if we have to - otherwise, all we throw away is the rubbish in them.

"The majority of plastic bags that arn't reused end up int eh recycling.  Which, according to the NSW recycling head honcho, is great, because they need those bags.  It is from thsoe bags that they make the vast majority of all there recycled plastic and without them the price of recycled plastic is going to skyrocket, the amount of recycled plastic is going to drop dramatically"

Er... ok, if recycling is 90% efficient (it isn't) and 1000 bags a year end up in recycling, producing 900 r-c plastic. Now, if people stop taking these bags at supermarkets, then yes, that's 900 fewer r-c bags being produced. But it's also 1000 bags less demand!

"showing that wildlife inexpliqably dies off near windmill farms."

Precisely what dies, over what area and period, and the way these things were measured would be interesting to know, but I'm guessing this just means at most we have to be a little careful where we put wind farms. Also if the phenomenon is 'inexplicable', then there really needs to be a lot more hard research done before we can write the things off.

"Then there's the biofeuls."

See, at this point, I think who you define as "environmentalists" really matters. I'm more inclined to say that the more genuine environmentalist is Biofuel Watch, rather than Bush.

[Andrew]

Is there mercury in the 4 foot long CFL that have been around for decades used in offices? If so then it is not a big deal.

The new CFL use less electricity and supposedly last longer.

Expect CFL to be superceded by LED lights in 5 years. They do not have mercury, use less power, and last much longer than CFL or incandescant.

There was an article on slashdot yesterday about CFL.

I'm pretty sure where I live we recycle plastic bags. We have to sort them separately from other stuff. But then we began sorting our garbage a decade ago, before anyone else. Even businesses have to sort since 2002. 65% of our waste has been properly recycled. I think we went from 25 landfills to about 5.

[gunner154]

If the making/transportation of ethanol is really using more oil than it replaces, why would companies want to use it? They would rather wait for the technology to become more efficient first.

[Tatar Khan]

I would really appreciate proper citations of the studies to be given to back up the claims that were made.

[Andrew]

Citations for mine or mahdis post (or gunners/nemas?)?

[gunner154]

I wouldn't need any reference. It's more so a question than a statement of fact.

[Edric O]

The argument seems to be that some environmentalists are misguided and that some of their policy proposals do more harm than good.

Even if it was all true, all I could say is "well, duh." Any movement will inevitably contain its share of stupid people and its share of bad policies. But as long as you agree with the purpose of the movement - which it seems you do - your reaction should be to try to fix the problems with it, not to condemn the whole movement just because it's not doing things absolutely perfectly.

[Andrew]

Even my local environmentalist (green party leader) is against biofuels. Takes more energy to produce the fuel.

Recently plans for a biofuel plant were shutdown.

[Tatar Khan]

I was asking for citations for the points made in the first post.