I just finished another guilt-inducing article on the environment that had two main points. First and foremost, it appears I am personally responsible for the global warming crisis and the resulting, unavoidable death and destruction. Second, no matter what I do, or how I change my lifestyle, it will never be enough.
Much of the “frantic” messaging we are receiving reminds me of the conflicting dietary messages from one decade to the next. Eggs are good for you, eggs will kill you. Drink a glass of milk a day – if you want to cut short your life. Alcohol is bad, except for the glass of wine a day you should drink to live to be over 100 years old. Early on I paid attention, but eventually, I simply tuned out the back-and-forth between competing dietary “experts” and the resulting media hysteria. Not surprisingly, the answer (simply enough) appears to have been moderation, a lesson that would serve us well now.
We are bombarded daily by dictates on how to live our lives to leave the smallest possible “carbon footprint.” I understand why people intuitively think “big cars, bad,” but then I watch my kids and their friends take three cars to the beach when all eight of them could have fit into comfortably into my SUV. I realize that ethanol may save the planet but I worry about reports that the inefficient use of corn to produce ethanol is driving the price of corn (and subsequently many of our food staples) through the roof and will lead to the starvation of millions.
I know that nuclear energy (which to the environmentally ignorant among us seems like a possible solution) is morally wrong and everything European is good. Then I read that France (and who says “Western Europe” more than the French?) has more than 50 nuclear power plants and gets more than 75% of their electricity from nuclear power. I am switching to earth-saving light bulbs, but they don’t fit in all my fixtures and I’m having trouble getting the carbon footprint information on lamp manufacturing, so I’m not sure if I should replace them or not.
Don’t get me wrong; I have a variety of different colored trashcans for recycling, a compost heap and less grass in my yard than I did years ago. I have turned down the heat, bought sweaters and installed low-flow toilets. My shower delivers an uncomfortable – but environmentally friendly - dribble of water and we now own our own reusable shopping bags.
However, there is a limit. At a recent family gathering, a loved one questioned our menu. First, the choice of a New Zealand wine was assailed. Did I have any idea of the waste involved in shipping this bottle from New Zealand to my environmentally unfriendly table? Then on to on the main course… we were serving meat, an obvious no-no for anyone who really cares about the earth and our children. A long lecture followed. I wanted to quote comedian Ron White: “I didn’t climb to the top of the food chain to eat carrots,” but my wife places a very high value on family harmony at these events, so I swallowed the comment, along with my steak.
Our meal having been dissected, analyzed and critiqued, attention turned to the driveway. I was berated for driving a gas-guzzling SUV. We also own a gas-sipping Mini-Cooper, perhaps the most honestly named vehicle of all-time, but that wasn’t enough. When I said I needed the SUV to pull our boat, it was suggested that if I really cared, I would sell the boat.
That’s when it hit me. It will never be enough. If you examine America’s environmental progress over 20 years ago, the improvements are admirable. But for the true environmental fanatics, it will not be enough until we are living naked in caves, without fire (do you know what burning a log does to the environment!?) and certainly without resource-consuming children.
Allow me to state what many of us feel. Give me reasonable choices and options that will benefit the environment, while at the same time respecting the fact that a decent meal, a comfortable home, a car not built for a contortionist, and a shower that actually removes the soap does not make me a bad person. I wear size 11 shoes and I’m afraid that in living a civilized lifestyle, I’m going to leave a bit of a carbon footprint. Cut me a little slack and I’ll look into getting some new light fixtures. Deal?
