Were’re on the same page, DrChaos. I too have minimzed my home energy use. I’m environmentally conscious but it wouldn’t make sense for me to spend $200k to get completely off the grid. Besides I don’t have enough land for all the solar panels I would need.
I think that the right is too blinded by its ideology/theocracy to understand the nuances in life.
Al Gore’s purchase of carbon credit to offset his own energy is more beneficial than investing the same amount in his home. The pay-off to the environment is greater because he encourages an industry dedicated to green energy.
Putting up solar panels and getting off the grid sounds good but it’s actually highly inefficient as each home needs its own powerplant with the associated risks of storing batteries that might leak and explode. The best thing would be to have green power-plants feeding whole cities.
Al Gore doesn’t live in a neighbood (such as many places in California) where there are acres upon acres of unused land that bakes under the sun. Putting up numerous solar panels would require taking down trees and occupying land that would otherwise be more useful. It’s something that can easily be done in the California desert but not easily achievable in old neighborhoods of Nashville.
Being environmentally conscious entails behaving in such as way to mimize one’s impact. Each person has a different lifestyle and there are a host of ways to achieve that goal.
Even the right would admit that there are many ways to lead a spiritual life. Attending church every Sunday doesn’t make a person rightuous.
