By Michael Callaway
April 29, 2008
I know that this will sound just awful so brace yourself. What I am about to say could make you mad so know that you have been warned. I believe that there are those who will consider me a heathen unworthy of life itself! But I am sick, and I mean sick of all the “green” crap that we are exposed to every day. I can not stand seeing the green NBC logo on the bottom of every show, I guess they are hoping as I watch “Scrubs” or “My Name is Earl” that the green logo will send subliminal messages to my polluting brain.
Also, is it necessary for Anne Curry (or anyone for that matter) to talk to me like a kindergarten teacher every time she talks about going green? Listen for it the next time you watch the Today show, Anne’s voice changes from sophisticated news journalist to kindergarten teacher every time the subject of the environment comes up. Finally, the phrase "going green" has got to stop. I have no reasons, it just bugs me.
Now, it may sound like I am a person that does not care about the environment. That is absolutely not true, while I am not a tree hugger per say (I have intimacy issues) I have been known to give the trees in my back yard a good peep talk now and then when they need it. What I do not like are all the superficial environmental policies and worse, the ones that are actually making it worse.
In the name of going green we have done things that are very bad for the environment. Mercury is one of the deadliest chemicals knows to man and in about five years we are going to have a massive problem on our hands when all of those “green” light bulbs burn out. Until I do not need to wear a hazmat suit if I accidentally break a light bulb I will continue using the real green approach to lighting, turn it off when you are not in the room.
This is also true with many of the energy efficient cars that people feel so good about buying; the nickel that is needed for the batteries is far more destructive both in its production and its long term storage then anything in a regular car. Bio fuels destroy jungle and forest regions and have lead to the increase in food prices worldwide. Sadly many of the “green” actions such as day light savings time are a complete fraud and do little to make the world a cleaner place and some are making it worse.
Speaking of fraud, the biggest green fraud in GreenLand is Al Gore himself. The inconvenient truth is you would be hard pressed to find anyone with a bigger carbon foot print in the world then Mr. Gore. He over hypes and exaggerates and his use of computer graphics for melting icebergs is propaganda at its worse, I think he would have made a fine addition to Soviet propaganda machine during its heyday.
The truth is the earth has gone through climate change in the past, the Sahara desert was once tropical, the land of Israel was once described as the land flowing with milk and honey and of course there was the ice age. I am sure if Al Gore could he would blame the end of the last glorious ice age on Big Oil and Big Business.
With that being said, it is important to be more environmentally aware of the way we do things. We need to recycle, increase reusable energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal as well as be more energy efficient with cars and industry. I can not tell you if global warming is the result of man or not. However, I can tell you that acid rain, deforestation, and pollution are and those are worthy enough goals by themselves.
© 2008, Michael Callaway. All rights reserved.
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Actually, the green logos of NBC properties (NBC, Bravo, etc.) were in celebration of Earth Day just for the days surrounding it last week. If you noticed, all the major broadcast networks greened up their logos.
I’m usually the first to call out greenwashing and can’t deny corporate America is doused in it. But when we’re talking about a celebration of Earth Day…well…sure, there’s some level of hypocrisy to it, but it’s also a neat opportunity to remind Average Joe about environmental issues he may not necessarily think about much on a daily basis. A stop and think moment, if you will. Because, the reality is, the environmental responsibility is mostly on us as consumers — exercising our spending power in a smart way, making smart choices, living with some sort of environmental conscience. And, sadly, mass media are still the most viable method of reaching large numbers of consumers with a simple message.
Just playing devil’s advocate here. Or, really, making a point about no sustainability message being unnecessary if it makes even just one person a bit more environmentally-conscious.
Great article Michael. actually, this article was the seed for my recent submission here on CultureFeast. I agree with you that the global climate disaster seems to be a big crock. However, I do think that green tech can be a good thing, if we handle it as a market and not a moral obligation. oh, and how about Al Gore winning the Nobel peace prize? kinda cheapens the award doesn’t it?
Daylight Savings Time is NOT an action of Going Green.