# Open Letter to Michelle and Barack Obama



## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

What a load of hogwash!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not one fact in the whole damn letter.

Kill off all businesses in the world and kill off every animal that might belch or fart and you still WOULD NOT affect the climate..............

Sun spot activity and ocean currents are big factors in climate, but not one "EXPERT" mentions them.....

Obama is going to have a lot on his plate. I hope he doesn't waste HIS time and OUR money on global warming.


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## Technologic (Jul 20, 2008)

Coley said:


> Obama is going to have a lot on his plate. I hope he doesn't waste HIS time and OUR money on global warming.


lol.... just had to respond because this made me laugh.

What an exercise in futility this kind of hope is.


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## ClintK (Apr 27, 2008)

Coley said:


> Obama is going to have a lot on his plate. I hope he doesn't waste HIS time and OUR money on global warming.


We can only hope he wastes his time on that and leaves the free market economy to correct itself. (As for "our" money, yeah...)


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

"Hope" is NOT a Strategy...


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

The wheels are comming off the algore band wagon. Its a simple fact that in times of good economic prosperity people feel more guilty about the environment and are more likely to "accept" environmental policies that could otherwise be unpopular. When times go bad, they generally stop caring because of bigger problems close to home.

Even some of the more hard line believers in man made climate are saying that its too late to stop things, because according to the theory we only have a few short years to basically shut down our carbon fueled economies. So now we have to adapt according to them...

The fact of the matter is, people are not going to support something like this when they cannot pay the bills. 2 years ago, maybe, but not now. The first priority of any world leader right now should be to get the economy going again. Weather they can actually do that is another question, but adding a carbon trading or taxation system would be a disaster.


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## jlsawell (Apr 4, 2008)

david85 said:


> Its a simple fact that in times of good economic prosperity people feel more guilty about the environment and are more likely to "accept" environmental policies that could otherwise be unpopular. When times go bad, they generally stop caring because of bigger problems close to home.


I don't agree at this time. What's affecting the current situation is the baby boomers retirement with 50% of the funds they had last year.

People won't be able to AFFORD to waste anything, so I think we'll see more re-using (NOT recycling), switching off lights and driving less as the next few years unfold.

Just last night my wife and I were discussing our buying habits and she said "you know, I buy food containers all the time, but we throw out the butter containers. Why don't we just use the washed butter containers to refrigerate leftovers in? That's what Grandma has done her whole life and she still does" I almost fell out of bed. 

As the economy tightens, people will be forced to re-use stuff and reduce waste simply because they can't afford not to. We spoiled brats who've had it so good for the last 20 years need to grow up at last.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

jlsawell said:


> I don't agree at this time. What's affecting the current situation is the baby boomers retirement with 50% of the funds they had last year.
> 
> People won't be able to AFFORD to waste anything, so I think we'll see more re-using (NOT recycling), switching off lights and driving less as the next few years unfold.
> 
> ...


I will agree on that. My family was below the poverty line many years ago, but we still buy used vehicles, clothing, and reuse just about everything we can. Old plastic containers come in very handy in the shop for parts, or other small odds and ends.

I was more refering to the hybrid chevy tahoe, or H2 hummer crowd. They had high paying jobs before the bubble burst and might have paid a premium for so called "green ideas". But you have a valid point that comsumption will go down as a matter of trying to save money so things may even out in the end. Maybe even get better, who knows.

Its carbon taxes that I'm most worried about.


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## Technologic (Jul 20, 2008)

jlsawell said:


> Just last night my wife and I were discussing our buying habits and she said "you know, I buy food containers all the time, but we throw out the butter containers. Why don't we just use the washed butter containers to refrigerate leftovers in? That's what Grandma has done her whole life and she still does" I almost fell out of bed.
> .


There's a difference between frugality, and the precursors to a poverty lifestyle... I think this kind of reusing is fine and all, I just find it odd that it's idealized as a virtue. I think recycling the materials instead of trashing them has more morality than attempting to reuse butter containers. 

I don't like the thought of the US or anywhere else starting in this sort of "we don't deserve to have wealth" kind of attitude, like in the 70s.


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## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

PhantomPholly said:


> "Hope" is NOT a Strategy...


Well, with an untested pres and the little power we seem to have, hope seems about all there is.

Do you have another angle to work at, at changing him?

And since the government only has OUR money, who the hell's momey are they going to waste??????


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## Technologic (Jul 20, 2008)

Coley said:


> Well, with an untested pres and the little power we seem to have, hope seems about all there is.
> 
> Do you have another angle to work at, at changing him?


I do, but you wouldn't like it 



> And since the government only has OUR money, who the hell's momey are they going to waste??????


.... it's not your's... you need to stop thinking that way... your time, sweat, tears, blood belong to the government. At least if you're not one of the lazy chronically unemployed.


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## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

I have worked since I got out of Highschool in 1960.

Never been unemployed and self employed now for 39 years.


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## Jordan (Oct 29, 2008)

PhantomPholly said:


> "Hope" is NOT a Strategy...


I can totally agree with that statement.


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## Evan (Feb 20, 2008)

jlsawell - I second David85's comment. You are on the correct track. We need to stretch what we have and make sure everything new that is made is as efficient as possible and used as efficiently as possible.


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## ElectriCar (Jun 15, 2008)

What I want to see is government *tax credits* for doing conversions or new vehicles if that won't fly. I understand someone plans a full size hybrid work van by 2010 or so but I forgot who!

I read yesterday that cheap gasoline is the likely culprit of peoples buying habits shifting back to gas burners. That will come back to bite them in the arse in a year or so when gas is expected to once again challenge the $5/gallon in the US again. 

I've built my first EV and now I want to build an electric full size work van. I've one I replaced with a newer one that is sitting now but this time I believe I'm going with AC and regen if I can afford it. It will be strictly used for inner city hops with opportunity charging everywhere we can!

I'm first going to recoup some of the money invested in the first truck to pay for this conversion! I'm hoping for battery or capacitor development sooner rather than later with price declines as well but it sure as heck is slow. It's been seven months since I began the first project and it doesn't seem there's been any advances in either tech so far.

I'd also love to see states and feds to get involved with battery development funding or tax breaks. The US has to do something soon or we're going to be a tech laggard in this area and that isn't good!


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## Evan (Feb 20, 2008)

ElectriCar - I don't like tax credit's for electric cars but if we are going to do it for mass produced vehicles we should do it for all vehicles produced. I prefer over tax breaks that we rase the gas tax to keep the cost of gasoline at $3.25/gal. This would create increase interest by private enterprise to create more efficent vehicals. Meanwhile better energy storage technology should be created by renewed funding for the national labs so that they can provided the underlying patents to everyone. Then we just need to find some way to restore anti trust laws and lower the barrer to entry for smaller car companies. That way we would have a lot of small businesses testing the market viability of different designes.


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