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Speaking of Hummers, perhaps it is environmentally responsible to buy one and squash a Prius with it. The Prius hybrid is, of course, fuel-efficient. There are, however, environmental costs to mining and smelting (in Canada) 1,000 tons a year of zinc for the battery-powered second motor, and the shipping of the zinc 10,000 miles -- trailing a cloud of carbon dioxide -- to Wales for refining and then to China for turning it into the component that is then sent to a battery factory in Japan.
-- George F. Will for The Washington Post
A little eco-humor by George Will. I have to keep it.
Obviously, we are still grappling with what to do about global warming. The real problem, I imagine, is our consumer culture and how well we have internalized it. Not many of us want less, but such a high-running economy has its environmental costs. It's a real problem. Maybe only technological breakthroughs are the only real answer. Though, that's not to say that we should act indifferently to the environment, as we should take reasonable measures to do things more cleanly, but this will only take us so far.
xXx
Speaking of Hummers, perhaps it is environmentally responsible to buy one and squash a Prius with it. The Prius hybrid is, of course, fuel-efficient. There are, however, environmental costs to mining and smelting (in Canada) 1,000 tons a year of zinc for the battery-powered second motor, and the shipping of the zinc 10,000 miles -- trailing a cloud of carbon dioxide -- to Wales for refining and then to China for turning it into the component that is then sent to a battery factory in Japan.
-- George F. Will for The Washington Post
A little eco-humor by George Will. I have to keep it.
Obviously, we are still grappling with what to do about global warming. The real problem, I imagine, is our consumer culture and how well we have internalized it. Not many of us want less, but such a high-running economy has its environmental costs. It's a real problem. Maybe only technological breakthroughs are the only real answer. Though, that's not to say that we should act indifferently to the environment, as we should take reasonable measures to do things more cleanly, but this will only take us so far.
