Category: Solving the wrong problem

Solving the wrong problem

But, It’s Renewable?

There’s nothing I hate more than pointless, feel good statements that are utterly devoid of reality. The latest is the clamor for ending evil fossil fuel and switching to 100% renewable! Yay for me, I love the planet! Let me forward a meme on the Facebook so everyone knows I’m an eco-warrior.

Here’s the percentage of renewable energy use for the major regions in the world:

Country RenewableFossil Fuel
China3%86%
US6%83%
Europe9%75%
CIS0%87%
Middle East0%99%
India 3%92%
Central America8%69%

You can be as optimistic and hopeful as you’d like… but single digit percentages are a not a bridgeable gap right now. Until some fancy new technology is invented, the U.S. is not going to generate the 4,000+ terawatt hours of annual electricity use by recycling used banana peels.

I’m sorry if this crushes your green spirit animal. Renewable energy, as it stands today, is not a viable source of sustainable energy. Period. That doesn’t mean we should abandon all hope and stop trying. Eventually (we hope) someone is going to create a fusion reactor powered by unicorn tears and used tires and we’ll all be saved from the evils of climate change.

Until then, stop with the unrealistic green campaigns and tax schemes. I pay too much in taxes already and current government spending is not sustainable. If you’d like to support green research, be my guest. Don’t just be a keyboard warrior echoing Facebook memes – you can write a check to the company or university of your choice today. You are also welcome to pay more than required this tax season. Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Hello?

Solving the wrong problem

Bring Me A Straw

I like wildlife. I want (*most) critters to stick around for the next generation. I’d wager that I’ve spent more time in the outdoors interacting with bambi and whatnot than a large percentage of the population. When it comes to the sea, I got my open water SCUBA certification when I was 13. Grew up surfing and sailing. I’ve paid my dues to the ocean gods.

Why do I tell you this? Because I love plastic. Plastic is one of the greatest inventions of the modern era. It is possible to equally embrace plastic and have an appreciation for the outdoors that rivals many eco warriors. The assault on plastic, while well intentioned, is outrage at the wrong problem. Seeing images of single use bags floating in waterways or piled in landfills, I get why you’d think banning them is the right path. But it may very well be that the overall environmental impact of forcing paper and reusable bags is greater than for plastic bags.

Regardless, trying to kill a very useful product after the fact seems pointless. We’re always going to have waste products that shouldn’t be dumped in the ocean or just buried in a hole in the ground. Selectively trying to ban “bad” things is an ineffective game of whack a mole. The real problem is that we need a more effective waste management solution.

I hate to break it to you, but plastic isn’t going away. Posting “I’m against straws” memes on the Facebook and public shaming restaurants/cities into completely ineffective bans that make virtually no impact is silly. Want to make a real change? Lobby to restrict foreign aid to countries with reprehensible waste management practices. Boycott cruise lines that simply dump their waste. Find out what your city/county’s 10 or 20 year plan is for waste management and publicly comment on it. Ask for more government R&D money for creating that 1.21 jigawatt plastics incinerator rather than funding research into the mating habits of the monk fish.

In the meantime, I want a goddam straw with my fizzy, tropical umbrella drink. And I need plastic bags. The hound poops at least three times every time we run and I have yet to see anything that beats the good ole fashioned poop bag.

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*Except snakes. Snakes can disappear.