To the uncompromising environmentalists; How are you going save the planet?

[Touchdown]

I tried something a few days ago.

I wrote at least what I thought was a positive observation on the green movement, and how the stridency has been replaced with doable solutions for everybody. It sank like a rock without one response. Now I could be full of shit on this, but I have no idea exactly where I got it wrong, since nobody bothered to tell me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5513864

The next day, I posted a snarky title to a positive news report, largely in a smart-ass response to a rabid vegan-commando's thread on how meat eaters are lower than the methane that cows fart out, with predictable results.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5522752

So my question is, what are you going to do about it?

Do you really believe that people are going to give up their cars and walk? I say walk, because buses use fossil fuels, subways use electricity generated by coal power and bikes contain petroleum products in their manufacture, so they are logically the next targets in the ongoing crusade to deprive everybody from living a modern life.

Even if the arguments for the damage the beef industry are sound (and since despite my defensiveness in my second thread, The good information I received I have no reason to doubt), the best you can hope for is a reduction in meat consumption by a few of your family members and maybe a 100 or so here on the tube series. Judging by the adamant crusaders though, I would suffice to say that if the anti-meat eaters are correct, then there's nothing anybody can do to save the planet, since cow farts will eventually make the Earth a burning cauldron of brimstone and we'll all be dead.

You have to know you will never get everyone to stop eating meat, so if the production of beef for human consumption is the absolute worst thing on the planet, then total inhabitability is the logical outcome of the planet. So why bother doing anything?

So when a new technology comes along that is green, sustainable, recycled, or made from recycled waste, then people balk at it, because it "isn't enough". Perhaps true, but every little bit helps. Every little nickel and dime to live responsibly adds up to have a big impact on one's carbon footprint. So why the preachiness and belief that it's all or nothing? Is altering behavior and reducing one's own carbon footprint ultimately a good thing, or is it just window dressing to the yurt dwellers who are the "real" green livers, and that those CFL buyers and re-useable bag shoppers are just poseurs?

What exactly is wrong with newer, greener technologies that lower or even eliminate toxins in the environment? What is wrong with making your house eco-sustainable, with rain barrels, solar panels, water softeners, recycling, soy based insulation and non VOC paints? What is wrong with shopping at local whole foods markets, and buying the dreaded steak, even if it's free range certified organic?

Is the problem so insurmountable that the numerous little things, as well as regulations, treaties, etc. cannot help anyway, and that the only solution is the strident and quixotic crusade to get everyone to stop driving cars, eating meat, sleeping in houses, using paper, using air conditioning, buying anything new even if it's made from recycled materials or *gasp* leather, and buying a coke in a #1 plastic cup.

If the planet can't be saved any other way, then we've already lost it, because your NEVER going to get the world to capitulate to your demands. So it's useless to do anything. We're all fucked! So tell The President that he's wasting money investing in renewable industries.