environment

I was talking some time ago about how much I hate pollution. Simply because it smells and it's toxic. I also said I didn't care about carbon dioxide emissions. We have a great deal of stuff to worry about that's more pressing and more important than CO_2. CO_2 can be absorbed by trees, if we stopped cutting them down and started planting new ones. Toxic gases and particles ("industrial ash") have a more direct impact on human life than global warming. Even more pressing is the oil crisis. Even if it's not a real crisis right now and it's driven by politics (may be, may be not, I don't care), it's still going to run out eventually. So that's the real problem, because then, the world economy is screwed. And then what? Riots? War? I don't know, I don't want to think about it. I hope a solution is found. What I care about today is bashing environmental fanatics. For instance, I use my bike and public transport most of the time, but I'm not fanatical about this. I don't have a problem with using a car, especially if there are more people in it. Think about this: according to Wikipedia, muscle efficiency is between 14% and 27%. A modern gasoline enginge on the other hand can have an efficiency of 25% to 30%. With Diesel engines that gets even higher. So I could get a better efficiency by riding say, a high-tech motorized skateboard / miniscooter, than by riding a bike. Guess what, you exhale 'dirty' carbon dioxide when you cycle, when you walk, when you sleep, all the time. You burn hydrocarbons just like a car does, and you eliminate CO_2 in the atmosphere. So by using a high-tech engine on a lightweight chassis you could actually 'hurt the environment' less by using motorized transportation than by cycling. Of course, cycling may be healthier, but that's another issue. Now think hybrid cars, where much less energy is spent on braking so the overall fuel consumption drops even more. Someday they're going to be markedly better than cycling. I should also mention a keen observation by my friend Wacky. All animals burn hydrocarbons and breathe out carbon dioxide, like we do. All plants on the other hand absorb the CO_2 and feed on it. So if you're somewhat of a vegetarian like I am, you're not protecting the environment by not eating animals, you're hurting it. You shouldn't kill and eat plants, who absorb CO_2, you should kill and eat animals, because they put CO_2 in your beloved atmosphere. And then campaign for cheaper condoms. We're complaining that the world population is increasing, that AIDS and other diseases are spreading sexually, and that's fucking normal! Because condoms are damn expensive. Especially in poor (pardon me, "developing") countries where a lot of people care more about finding half an old bread and a rotten apple to eat. Also, people are hypocrites. They're moral, they value family and bla-bla, when in public. But in private they spread AIDS and other diseases sexually. Actually, even if condoms were handed out freely, I guess many wouldn't take them because they're "highly moral and abstinent". Yeah. But still, condoms are fucking expensive. Hm. Seems I unintentionally found a problem worth campaining for: humanity's obsession with sex. The traditionalists' obsession with limiting and controlling it, the emancipated western(ized) peoples' obsession with having it, and the hypocrites' saying the first and doing the latter. And all the unnecessary taboo that surrounds it. There. Campaign for people to have less unprotected sex and make fewer children so there'd be less CO_2 emissions from breathing and from using technology. And then kill and eat all the animals that also breathe out CO_2. I think the environment would be perfectly sustainable with just humans, cockroaches, bacteria and all the plants. For instance, what role do panda bears play in the ecosystem? I mean, they're symbolic to the whole extinction craze. But besides being subjectively and questionably cute, they're dumb and poorly adapted. They only eat bamboo and reproduce with difficulty. So from an evolutionary standpoint, they deserve to die and go extinct. Big deal. So ideally, there'd be just many, many plants, us humans and little to no other animals. I mean, I guess there are plants that don't rely on insects for pollenation. Or just let the bees live, honey's good. And kill them if they multiply too fast. There. Clean air and sustainability. Then genetically modify humans to make their skin act like a plant leaf. There. No more fucking CO_2, and we get to feed on light. No more eating animals OR plants. Hippy nirvana peaceful utopia: us, the flowers and the trees. So we all happily feed on light and CO_2 instead of each other, until the CO_2 starts to run out and we can't synthesize organic matter any more. And so we burn half the forests to release more. And they all lived naturally ever after. The end.