The Wall Street Journal published a special section on the environment today and the primary effort was to help us understand the concept of a carbon footprint.
I need the help! I had no ability to visualize what a pound of carbon dioxide would look like. I am a bit of a skeptic about carbon footprints since we're still here and the natural forms of introducing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere have been going on forever. I am a bit of a skeptic because this wasn't talked about until Al Gore began his 'environmental religion'. I am a bit of a skeptic because what started as a 'global warming' crisis has been altered to a 'climate change' crisis. I am a bit of a skeptic since I've yet to be convinced that science supports the broad contentions made by the proponents of 'climate change'.
What have I learned so far? Well, supposedly each of us in the United States releases 118 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every day. That is an awfully precise number considering that science is not in sync as to precisely how carbon footprints ought to be determined.
I learned that an average refrigerator would hold about 2 pounds of carbon dioxide gas. A pound of carbon dioxide has the volume of 8.2 cubic feet. I was reminded that carbon dioxide in its solid form is what we call 'dry ice' and that bubbles in our soda are made from this gas. I learned that if I were to buy a Toyota Prius, to be as good as I could be, that purchase would equate to putting 97,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That number is derived from the following and assumes that I'd drive the car 127,000 miles and get 42 miles per gallon:
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making the materials for the car (steel, plastic, etc.) [12.9%]
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assembling the car [5.7%]
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producing the fuel and transporting it to the gas station [15.8%]
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fuel use in the car [52.7%]
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maintenance of the car [4.7%]
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disposing of the car [8.3%]
Then, I read of Car Free Days (CFDs) in Seattle. This seems to me another fad in the array of fads associated with Eco activism. Seattle closes city streets, posts signs explaining that to drivers, and provides notices to city residents. All this takes labor, and fuel and other energy forms...all for something that no one has yet tried to measure...maybe fearing that the theory would be disproved.
I confess. I continue to be the skeptic. Maybe I will be proved correct, or maybe I'll be proved incorrect. I don't know. I suspect that I probably won't know that answer yet if I live to my normal life expectancy.
All this reminds me of the seeming importance of symbolism. If we can be seen as doing good, it really makes no difference if what we're doing is good, or not good. It is the appearance about which we're concerned.
Then there are the louts of the planet such as me who aren't yet convinced that we ought to be concerned.
