Megan,<br> <br> It seems to me that the major problem with global warming is that we simply have too many people and are reliance on fossil fuel. I think the best thing to do for the environment would be to put an additional $4 a gallon tax on gasoline, raise taxes about $10K on those with more than one child, and heavily tax the production and sale of junk and fast food. This would eliminate fossil fuels, reduce the population, and smash our record levels of obesity that has resulted in unprecedented amount of resources being consumed to treat health problems we should not be having. Thank you for trying to make the world a better place. <br> <br> Best,<br> <br> _DJA<br> <br> <br><br><b><i>Megan Prusynski <megan@meganpru.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">I haven't seen the movie yet (gasp!) since I've been traveling a
lot lately, but I do plan to see it. I find it rather funny that Al Gore's lifestyle, like most politicians, is pretty much the opposite of how we need to be living if we hope to combat global warming... but at least he's willing to admit global warming is a serious threat, and that it exists. </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">I think it is up to each individual to change their lifestyle and make some sacrifices for the environment's sake, obviously waiting for our government to take action on global warming isn't working so well. Americans don't usually like to be told that they need to make sacrifices, though, but there are a lot of little things we can do to create positive change that are relatively easy. I've been trying consciously to decrease my footprint the last few years, so I have some ideas on where to start, but obviously these things need to happen on a grand scale...</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">So here's what I've done
recently in a small effort to make my lifestyle line up with my ideals and try to curb global warming... </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">1. Went vegetarian. Best decision I have ever made. I won't discuss all of the numerous reasons I made this decision (animal welfare, aversion to factory farming, health, world hunger, beliefs, etc...) but a major reason was the environment. Nearly half the water and 80% of the agricultural land in this country are used to raise animals for food. More than one-third of all the fossil fuels produced in the US are used to raise animals for food. Eating lower on the food chain is simply less wasteful: it takes about 20 times more energy to produce meat than it does to produce plants for food. If more of us ate a plant-based diet instead of a meat-based one, we would lower our energy needs, contribute a hell of a lot less pollution, and save precious water and land resources as well. (Check out <a
href="http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp">http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp</a> for more info). </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">2. Converted my car to run on bio-fuels and invested in a bike trailer. For in-town errands, my boyfriend and I use a bike with a trailer that fits all our groceries. For road trips, we use our newly converted VW bus that runs on waste veggie oil & bio-diesel. Bio-fuels are carbon-neutral (the plants used to grow them compensate for the carbon emitted when they are burned), have lower emissions, and can be grown domestically, reducing our need for foreign oil (and therefore war!). Any diesel vehicle can be converted to run on waste vegetable oil by installing a kit with an extra veggie oil tank. If you're interested, I'm sure my boyfriend (an engineering alumni from UI) wouldn't mind making a living off of converting vehicles. Running on grease is better for longer trips, since you have to warm up on diesel or
bio-diesel, and yes, the exhaust does smell like french fries. Speaking of veggie oil, does anyone know of any restaurants (other than the Breakfast Club, who graciously supplies us with oil each week) that want a better way to recycle their waste vegetable oil from fryers? Bio-fuels are only one of many many alternative energy & fuel sources that I hope become more popular. </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">3. I'm in the process (always) of learning to live more simply, eat more locally-grown food, and simply thinking about the environmental consequences of every action. By being more conscious and spreading that consciousness, we can make green living the norm. Society needs to work towards sustainability, one person at a time. </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">Just thought I'd share my ideas on the subject of living more sustainably and curbing global warming through a change in lifestyle. What is everyone else doing to help
this problem? :)</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">peace!</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;">~megan</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="7"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 32px;"><b><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></b></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 21px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="7"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 32px;"><b>[Vision2020] Inconvenient Truth: What you gonna do?</b></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><b>Nils Peterson</b></span></font><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span></font><a href="mailto:vision2020%40moscow.com?Subject=%5BVision2020%5D%20Inconvenient%20Truth%3A%20What%20you%20gonna%20do%3F&In-Reply-To="><font
class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#0021e8">nils_peterson at wsu.edu</font><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#0021e8"> </font></span></font></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><i>Tue Aug 22 06:40:42 PDT 2006</i></span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-family: Times; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 19px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">So did you see Al Gore's movie? My sister, the infamous 'Rock Doc' of the</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier"
size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">DNews went, prepared to debunk Gore's latest invention since the Internet.</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">She came away saying the science was solid, but not saying she had any</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">actions in mind.</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Courier; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 16px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">My immediate thoughts are along the lines of conservation rather
than</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">running out to by a Prius.</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Courier; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 16px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Which folds into another thought that has passed through v2020. I posted a</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">response to talk about making an 'internal bypass' of Hwy 8 along the old RR</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">route between downtown and UI. Aaron Ament later told me he'd biked the</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">route to look closer.</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Courier; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 16px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">If we were to heed Gore and cut car trips down we wouldn't need the bypass.</span></font></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Courier" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Just a
thought</span></font></div>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br> http://www.fsr.net <br> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>=======================================================</blockquote><br><p> 
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