A comment on current events

Usually, I keep my opinions about politics, current events, culture, and society off my blog because of the potential for controversial content that I don't want to argue with someone about, but I feel that a few things have to be said.

First, I think Relient K was right when they said "Opinions are immunity to being told you're wrong" in their song The Only Thing Worse Than Beating a Dead Horse is Betting on One. So I am going to state my opinion, although the right to an opinion has become heavily abused in American culture (example: blogs). You can have an opinion and still be wrong, you just get to ignore anyone who tells you so. Regardless, I'd like to comment on a few things.

I think the whole "green", "eco-friendly" movement is just that--a movement. It's a trend that is going to fade in one way or another. There is the possibility that people will adopt sustainable practices on a large scale, but more likely nothing will get accomplished once the PR people decide that the "green" logos aren't working to sell more products anymore. A lot of companies are actually taking advantage of the trend and trying to market their products as sustainable or "safe for the environment" when they really aren't.


Take, for instance, the compact fluorescent light bulb. I heard through the grapevine that by 2012 we may be forced to use compact fluorescents in place of all incandescent bulbs, because they supposedly last so long and conserve so much energy. I acknowledge that CFLs last longer than incandescents, but for one thing that replacement idea is just silly because LEDs are the future of lighting. I don't know what materials an LED light bulb is made of, but I do know that CFLs contain MERCURY, and if you read the side of the base of the bulb it says to "dispose according to local, state, or federal laws." Well, that's just great. We're going to replace the majority of incandescent lights in America with compact fluorescents which contain an element that, if exposed to the air when you, say, break the bulb, will cause all kinds of health problems depending on the amount of exposure.

But hey, why should we worry about it? We'll just deal with it way down the road when they actually start wearing out and we have to replace them. In the meantime, let's start putting lead in our paint and asbestos in our insulation again.

GE plans to use LEDs
NY Times reports incandescents are obsolete in 2012

-K