The Lorax: Beyond Thunderdome

[filkertom]

Mentioned by a commenter to this.

Comments

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

d d d d dumbass

Sad thing is he has probably already bred.

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Forgive me, but I'm imagining a Texas Lorax now:
"Ah speak f'r the trees, f'r the trees got no oahl."

[madrona.livejournal.com]

And other reasons not to stop when driving through Idaho.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

That's even dumber than Reagan's comment about trees and air pollution.

[fmh.livejournal.com]

Thank you for making me envision Tina Turner in a thneed. :(

Oh great $diety what an idiot!

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

*starts saving Truffula seeds*

Or at least hemp seeds:

http://shorterlink.org/4121
(How to make biodiesel using hemp.)

[lariss.livejournal.com]

"We can use garbage for fuel!"
"We can use liquid coal!"
"We can use natural gas!"
"We can use corn!"
"Soybeans!" "Hemp seeds!" "Wind! "Water!" "Boiling hot MAG-ma!"

Whatever.

We need to need less fuel.
Population control. Consumption control. Ignorance control.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

I award you an Internets! ;-)

You're seriously right about all this. That's why I've been slowly converting all my server stuff at home (necessary for an I/T guy) to low-power boxes and multi-task boxes versus single-use boxes. Last test (before we moved) the entire rack only used 250W at peak usage. My main desktop is my Macbook and that uses about 45W at peak usage.

I've also replaced almost every bulb in the house and garage with CF bulbs and put it all on X10 appliance modules so they are computer controlled to shut down during the day. Eventually I'll have all the heating and cooling attached to the data from my weather station as well.

I wish solar attic/gable fans weren't so damn expensive. :-(

Hell I wish solar in general wasn't that expensive...

[lariss.livejournal.com]

OMG your Skillz! I can haz them? Do you live near NC?
(And that was my first Internets! Thank Ewe!)
Seriously. I am a low-tech chick, and can't afford the classes to learn to DIM.
How, exactly, did you get all that set up, and what are my chances of being electrocuted while attempting to replicate your set up?
(Already did the CF bulbs...but we turn off our electronic crap by hand, and adjust our HVAC by hand - it's simply been OFF for the past week or so whent he temps have been mid-eighties)

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Doesn't take any classes. Seriously. And low-tech is good. Less to break down. Trust me on this one.

The X10 modules are simple and available all over the web. I started with a kit like this:

http://shorterlink.org/4122

Note: LAMP modules do NOT work with CF bulbs. You have to use appliance modules:

http://shorterlink.org/4123

Don't pay more than $5 - $6 a piece for the appliance modules. Shipping is often extra. They have wire-in appliance modules that go in the wall as well as modules that replace wall switches. Anything that says "dimmable" is not CF friendly unless you have dimmable CF bulbs.

The Firecracker in the kit is used on the serial port of a computer with software. (They also have USB versions out there.) Windows software will usually cost anywhere from $30 - $$$ depending on how complex you want it. It's also free for those geeky enough to use Linux and compile. (Bottlerocket is the package in question.)

However for non-computer-geek people I recommend this:

http://shorterlink.org/4124

It can be set to turn multiple module "codes" on and off and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

HVAC - spend $30 and get a programmable thermostat. Either two or four wires to swap out and usually labeled on the old one. IF you've got the cash install one of these in your attic and it'll help keep the house quite cool. Though you'll have to change the battery every five years or so.

http://shorterlink.org/4125

I have a fair amount of my house automated but there is still quite a bit to go. For instance I have no automatics on the soaker hoses in the garden which I desperately want.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

I'm so on it.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Yet another one converted! ;-D

It's so damn easy and so cheap I don't know why more people don't do this.

The modules themselves use a tiny amount of power to "listen" for their on/off signals but it's loads less than the things being turned off.

For instance I turn off power strips with things like cellphone chargers and A/V equipment on them. Those "wall warts" really add up power-wise. Which reminds me to remind you not o overload those modules - they're only 15A in capacity. If you think you've got too much plugged into one then your probably have.

It's up to you to turn off/on what you want. Some people go hog wild and turn off things like the microwave and stove (if applicable) but that's a little excessive for me.

(Edited so I don't sound like a bad Charlie Chan movie.)

[lariss.livejournal.com]

Ignorance control.
I'm not just a promoter, I'm a member.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I don't want to sound like a jerk here but that's not terriblly realistic.

Population Control= Government control over reproductive rights, which I thought was a bad thing.

Consumption Control= Government control over what I can do or where I can go. If I can only use x ammount of fuel then I'm limited in going to the places I want, like long distance conventions and the like.

Ignorance control= What does this mean really? Do we simply accept the Government line on what's right and wrong? I think people are better off educating themselves by looking at both sides of an argument and coming to the truth in between the two points of view. (Thank you JMS for that particular kernal of wisdom)

We do need to find new ways of doing things, on that we can agree. Being something of a scifi geek I love what I'm seeing with hydrogen fuel cell technology, the possibilities of wind power, the use of natural gas to power cars, and many other things. The rest of the world isn't going to slow down and we have to remain competetive in the world market place, and the politcal stage.

Just my two cents though.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

Honest truth?
I'm more interested in not having our species destroy the planet than I am worried about government control. We extinct ourselves, and there won't be anyone for government TO control. We dissolve in the Malthusian Checks, and there won't be ANY government, which I can guarantee is a Bad Thing.
Yes. If we won't control our own breeding, I think it should be controlled for us.
Yes. I think we should be limited in going wherever we like and doing whatever we like - especially in terms of energy use and ecological footprint.
No. I don't think our precious individual rights trump the health of the planet. Sorry. I rejected the supremacy of individual rights over the good of the ecology (which includes humans, other animals, plants, and the planet as a whole living organism) a long, long time ago.
Ignorance control? That would be education and paradigm shifts which allow for us to control the OTHER two without government coercion.
Reality now is not going to be reality later.
What people think is not "realistic" now, will be enforced later - either by ourselves, our governments, or - in the last extreme - by a very pissed off mother nature through famine, war, and disease.
When I talk about these 3 Controls, I have my grand children and great-grandchildren in mind. I want them to survive and have quality of life. I am willing to sacrifice some of my modern conveniences (being able to travel wherever you want whenever you want is really a recent thing.)
With a little Ignorance control, and a little infrastructure built with Consumption control in mind, and you could STILL go to your conference - by light rail.
No, I don't think these changes will be loved, and no, I don't think our modern way of life is going to last.
I do, however, believe strongly that freedom MUST come with responsibility and that part of that responsibility is self-control. And with my child, if I see that he hasn't the responsibility to control himself, I have to step in.
My ultimate point is that long-term human freedom and quality of life requires some growing-up and responsibility taking NOW.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

Personally I refuse to give the government that much control, they simplly can't be trusted with it. History shows us, time and again, that if we allow the government iron control over the people then the people will be repressed and beaten down. The most insidious forms of repression are those where we're told that it's for our own good, or that certain sacrifices have to be made for the public good.

Kinda like how the current administration has done with whittling away at the constitution.

So I have to reject your affirmation that government control is what's needed. All that's needed is the teaching of personal accountability. Nothing more, nothing less.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

I didn't say "government control is what's needed"
Never did.
I said that I would prefer we control ourselves, but that if we don;t control ourselves, we will BE controlled. And if governments don't do it, Natural Law will.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

And Natural Law will be far crueler than anything the most repressive government could dream up.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I apologize if I misunderstood then. Typically when people I've talked to in the past used the phrase "control is needed" they almost always meant that the government should step in to do so.

It's my own, personal, belief that most people do have the common sense to know when enough is enough. People are starting to move away from gas guzzling cars and looking to newer, more efficient models. More people are taking public transport when they can and new technologies are emerging that will help provide our energy needs without overly taxing the enviroment. It's innovation and imagination that I support because those things are part of an optimistic approach to the situation, and in my heart I'm an optimist and an idealist.

I really do firmly believe that things will eventually work out for the best. Most of that comes from my, often mentioned, deeply held Christian faith. We have to believe that things will turn out for the best, that's the first step. Then we have to start working towards it using our imaginations, dreams, and love. It might take some time and a lot of effort but the best things in life always do.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

Even the Christian faith doesn't recommend believing that things will come out for the best. I am not as familiar with your Bible as I used to be, but I clearly remember many, many scriptures in which Christians are exhorted, not towards self-satisfaction, but towards self-restraint. Christians and Jews are all commanded to be "good stewards."
But your examples of "responsible behavior" do not work for me. Most of those changes ONLY occurred because the cost of gas rose. Let it fall back to $3 or so a gallon, and about 75% of those new behaviors will disappear. Most of the people who made those changes did not do it out of concern for the environment, but out of concern for their own pocketbooks. This is neither virtue nor responsibility.

[captnova.livejournal.com]

Where do we get these people and how do they get elected.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

We get them the usual way. Their parents don't use condoms.

They get elected by a manner analogous to H.L. Mencken's comment about the American public.