Global warming? Maybe.
Climate change? Probably.
Man-made? More likely than not.
The United States as the largest contributor? Depends.
Depends on what? Depends on whether or not you consider the US CONSUMER as part of that contribution. And NOT just considering what your daily fossil-fuel usage might be; heating, cooling, electricity, travel fuels.
Consider first what device upon which you may be viewing this. Consider how much energy it takes to locate, mine, process, and refine those milligrams of rare earth metals that are used in IT and every other phone, pad, laptop, computer, server, switch, and satellite needed to type and see this message.
Consider next how the country in which these resources are produced cares LITTLE about how it hurts our world's environment, and cares more about an economy strong enough to keep its peoples employed and fed. Consider how NOT doing so would result in MILLIONS of its citizens revolting, showing the world another failed communist/socialist attempt at government.
The leaders and governments of both India and China are in NO position to have a concern about how an American consumer might need to dispose of another lithium-ion battery, how much arsenic there might be in the pigments that color that child's toy or drinking cup, or how many tons of pollutants are spewed into the atmosphere or oceans. They need to provide their manufacturing firms the opportunity to provide just enough employment wages for a majority of their population to keep them housed and fed. If the air everyone breathes or the water everyone drinks causes a deadly disease, so much the better; fewer people to worry about.
So, saying that the United States and its citizens are the largest contributors to climate change, you'll have to qualify that by asking how much "new" is enough. We've raised generations on "disposable" to the point where anything that lasts longer than 10 years is TOO old-fashioned to be worthwhile.
There's a reason that some of these items have lasted that long. And very little of it has to do with heavy metals.
29 January 2019
I Don't Need To Turn My Furnace On When I'm Not Home
I remember when having a Remote Control for a television was a HUGE convenience. Just think. You needn't stand up and walk across the room and turn the DIAL to get the next station OR to raise/lower the volume. You didn't have to adjust the "Color" and "Hue", "Contrast" and "Balance". Then, once you disconnected from your chimney-mounted 32-prong antennae, with its TV-top directional locator, and sold your soul to "the cable company, they took care of all that for you.
You no longer had to stand in line for your $5.00 popcorn and $3.00 soda once Home Box Office arrived. You just popped an Orville Redenbacher in the microwave and saved that $8.00. On top of that, you needn't drive to your local mall and it's TWO screen theater. That $1.50 ticket price now seemed EXPENSIVE compared to the entire MONTH of movies right at home.
Now? Two generations later, the "Big Screen" isn't seen in Panavision stretched across a 65 foot stage. Penny candy now costs a buck. And "Recliners" aren't just for falling asleep in while watching the late evening news.
Forget about signing up for another "loyalty" or "frequent shopper" key-tag. Those new "chip" cards, the ones that are more secure, keep track of every cup of coffee, every head of cabbage, each and every beer and order of nachos you ever had or will have for the rest of your life. That information is then collated, organized, evaluated, and recorded, then SOLD to the highest bidder so they can glean whatever they want. You think that the shower curtain you just searched for on Amazon is now Magically appearing on your cellphone by chance? Good one.
Last week, an AI program was introduced to the game of Chess and, within FOUR HOURS, without even being given ANY guidance, was able to beat a Grand Master. FOUR HOURS. Why? Because it was NOT following any man-made approach, using its own, self-taught agenda. What did it do? It had NO regard for or assigned any emotional attachment to the pieces. It only wanted to win. And it did.
You no longer had to stand in line for your $5.00 popcorn and $3.00 soda once Home Box Office arrived. You just popped an Orville Redenbacher in the microwave and saved that $8.00. On top of that, you needn't drive to your local mall and it's TWO screen theater. That $1.50 ticket price now seemed EXPENSIVE compared to the entire MONTH of movies right at home.
Now? Two generations later, the "Big Screen" isn't seen in Panavision stretched across a 65 foot stage. Penny candy now costs a buck. And "Recliners" aren't just for falling asleep in while watching the late evening news.
Forget about signing up for another "loyalty" or "frequent shopper" key-tag. Those new "chip" cards, the ones that are more secure, keep track of every cup of coffee, every head of cabbage, each and every beer and order of nachos you ever had or will have for the rest of your life. That information is then collated, organized, evaluated, and recorded, then SOLD to the highest bidder so they can glean whatever they want. You think that the shower curtain you just searched for on Amazon is now Magically appearing on your cellphone by chance? Good one.
Last week, an AI program was introduced to the game of Chess and, within FOUR HOURS, without even being given ANY guidance, was able to beat a Grand Master. FOUR HOURS. Why? Because it was NOT following any man-made approach, using its own, self-taught agenda. What did it do? It had NO regard for or assigned any emotional attachment to the pieces. It only wanted to win. And it did.
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