Just watched a great movie last night called "The Inconvenient Truth". It was about Al Gore's fight to increase political awareness of global warming. It was loaded with a ton of scary stats about the global situation. If you don't think global warming is an important issue, watch this film. It's free at the library.

Thought I'd revive the thread, not cuz I think it's in vogue either. Environment's been in vogue with me since birth I think.

But, just looking for a new (different) vehicle cuz I cannot stand my Van's fuel consumption any longer. Trying to find a stick shift van of some sort: Man, how is it that there are only automatics around??? Can nobody drive standard any more, afraid to spill the fries and soft drink when your gut moves to shift

Did you know that on average (and if you know how to drive) your brakes last at least twice as long due to downshifting ability, your clutch is WAAAAAAAY cheaper than a new auto tranny and your mileage improves by at least 15%.

Growing up in Germany only a few of the largest Merc's had an auto tranny, everyone there still drives stick....for good reason. If you are considering a new vehicle, order or buy standard, people!! Five or six speeds are best (overdrive)

Yep, I ended up ordering from the factory in order to get my Dodge with standard transmission, no electric gizmos, positraction, & skidplates. And for the equivalent in a Toyota, where the base truck started the same price, it was going to be $10K more. I'm thinking of trading in on a Sprinter because of the way better mileage (and better wind wagon ability). Might be just too much money though...

Oh, and an electric bike for regular commuting...

Kus, Mitsubishi Delica:

http://www.terra2imports.ca/import-japa ... 743260.htm

2.2 Turbo Diesel

They also come in 2WD

Or try an older VW diesel panel Van, a few contractors up here have them, but they cost a lot.

Thanks man, my ticket right here: http://www.terra2imports.ca/import-japa ... 771620.htm
I'll need that shortly

now I just need a driver....to handle the right side steering thing

Nah, after the Windkusschine retires in 2-3, I'm all over this, sans that stupid air conditioner and w/ a standard tranny of course
http://www.roadtrek.com/Model.aspx?ModelID=23&YearID=7

Just move somewhere windy and get a rickshaw for chrissakes Now you're talking efficiency. Ditch the damn car already ...

Drink local beer. We have an excellent selection of good local beers. Just think about what it takes to bring beer to the island, both domestic and foreign. By drinking (and eating) locally you will greatly reduce the impact you have on the environment and will contribute to the local economy. Feel good the day after you drink!

Counterpoint!

The Great Global Warming Swindle

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4899458831

it's likely a good thing for scientists to challenge the global warming theories - that's what science is all about.

but, some of this counterpoint science seems pretty biased... for example, I remember reading a globe and mail investigative article on Tim Ball (the first "scientist" named in the video). The globe tracked Tim Ball's money straight to the oil industry.

http://www.desmogblog.com/timothy-f-ball-tim-ball

bottom line for me -- Ball is a con artist and discredits any video he's part of.

Yeah, too bad that he was included in this "documentary" because there is a lot of interesting stuff in it - the discussion on troposphere temperature measurements and the evidence of uncoupling of CO2 and T for example. Bell is a charlatian no doubt about that. I don't think he is the message here though.

There IS a lot of media hype and a lot of it is inaccurate. Here is a case in point:

From the Guardian last month:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/clima ... 72,00.html
"The report reflects climate scientists' growing fears that Earth is nearing the stage when carbon dioxide rises will bring irreversible change to the planet. 'We are seeing vast sections of Antarctic ice disappearing at an alarming rate,' said climate expert Chris Rapley, in a phone call to The Observer from the Antarctic Peninsula last week. 'That means we can expect to see sea levels rise at about a metre a century from now on - and that will have devastating consequences.'"

The reality:

See: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=3615

While recent studies have shown that on the whole Arctic sea ice has decreased since the late 1970s, satellite records of sea ice around Antarctica reveal an overall increase in the southern hemisphere ice over the same period. Continued decreases or increases could have substantial impacts on polar climates, because sea ice spreads over a vast area, reflects solar radiation away from the Earth’s surface, and insulates the oceans from the atmosphere.

In a study just published in the Annals of Glaciology, Claire Parkinson of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center analyzed the length of the sea ice season throughout the Southern Ocean to obtain trends in sea ice coverage. Parkinson examined 21 years (1979-1999) of Antarctic sea ice satellite records and discovered that, on average, the area where southern sea ice seasons have lengthened by at least one day per year is roughly twice as large as the area where sea ice seasons have shortened by at least one day per year. One day per year equals three weeks over the 21-year period.

forget the debate, the tragic thing which humans ARE repsonsible is mass polution and extinction of habitats and species. even if we are not directly responsible for the warming, which I feel we are, there are still many many areas where we are destroying the planet.....that is the important issue I feel.

for example, the new industrial development at the bottom of bear mountain as you are leaving victoria heading up the island has been built right beside a wetland if not on it! there are many alternatives which will reduce our impact and improve the health of our planet.

I would have to agree with colin, it’s bad that I’m going to have to tell my grand kids( if i have any) how good Tuna or Salmon was to eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. Just a side note, who pays NASA’s bills????

Hey look guys. I ain't Bush! The great thing about science is that it is out in the open and subject to scrutiny and peer review. NASA is an example of something that is good about the US, not the opposite.

Have we been bad humans?

Belching smokestacks, oil spills at sea, garbage disposal, chemical contamination, ozone depletion, de-forestation, destruction of natural habitat, built-in obsolesce, the list goes on. I have absolutely no doubt that we are partly responsible for the elevated and growing level of CO2 and a half dozen other gases that are less environmentally friendly (NOx, hydrocarbons, for example). We are taxing the earth's ability to provide food, shelter, and a non-hostile environment. All of this is with a backdrop of regional sectarian violence in a dozen or two locations, international terrorism, multinational corporate entities whose only goal is to make money and will exploit tax, labour, and industrial workplace laws to do so, and political instability of a half-dozen areas of the planet.

We've been bad in a lot of ways!

My only point was that if Al Gore and Hollywood want to get on a soap box and tell me how me and my car and furnace are causing the earth to fry to a crisp, the least they can do is to get the facts straight!

I wish we could go back 5 to10 years on this forum, and find out how many people were talking about “ global warming” because im sure you would be hard pressed to find anyone, good or bad. So on that note, I think that Al Gore, maybe not Hollywood, have done a good thing, and that is put it into the forefront for this kind of discussion. This kind of talk is good, even if we don’t have all the right information. I just hope that we move forward from discussion to action, because remember we can’t go back 5 years……….or maybe we can( quantum physics…lol……another topic )

you can actually go back 4 years in the forum, the hot topic was "why are there only 3 people posting stuff"