We Californians are really not very good conservationists - we're very good preservationists

May 9, 2003 8:20 AM

Fun Friday link it is not. unless you like Rivers on Fire! Eco-devastation!"We Californians are really not very good conservationists - we're very good preservationists," he said. "Conservation means you use resources well and responsibly. Preservation means you are rich enough to set aside things you want and buy them from someone else." Ouch. I don't think environmental issues are ever as simple as some would like to believe. We live in a complex, interconnected world and this excellent--long--piece has given me a lot to think about. Ironic, in the beginning the author talks about finding a paper suitable to Print the article...i say, just Post it. Who needs paper for an article about resource conservation?
posted by th3ph17 (6 comments total)

This one goes to eleven! I ROCK the two and a half planets it takes to sustain me and my ilk!
posted by ubi at 9:29 AM on May 9, 2003

Who needs paper for an article about resource conservation?

If he posts it, he is preaching primarily to the already paperless choir. If he prints it, he may reach one or two of those who resist going paperless. Catch-22.
posted by mischief at 9:38 AM on May 9, 2003

Slightly OT but for the SUV bashing folks out there, ubi's link shows it's not just the MPG but how many miles you drive. What kind of car you drive is only part of the picture. Where you live in relation to work, carpooling, keeping driveing to a minimum are all as important as the vehicle MPG rateing. Those who throw stones live in glass houses.
posted by stbalbach at 10:00 AM on May 9, 2003

uni's link, myfootprint.org, was itself the subject of intense discussion. Otherwise...

*resolve himself to put the aluminum container into the recycle bin*
posted by MzB at 10:29 AM on May 9, 2003

Excellent link, th3ph17. Thank you.

unless you like Rivers on Fire!

I assume you're refering to this:

"We sleep in terror here," said Lucia Castillo, whose brother was burned to death when a pipeline break sent waves of fire through the coastal community of Esmeraldas in 1998. As flames roared down oil-soaked streets, devouring cars and homes, frantic parents put their children in wooden canoes and pushed them into the Esmeraldas River.

Then they watched in horror as fire engulfed the river - and the children.
posted by homunculus at 12:16 PM on May 9, 2003

Great article (he said, after powerskimming only parts of it). In a related article I skimmed somewhere a couple of days ago about the supposition that Marxism doesn't apply to the U.S. anymore because we don't have a sizable working class, the author said "yeah, we do...only our working class happens to live in China."
posted by kozad at 3:29 PM on May 9, 2003