Here's mine:
"The reason, she thinks, is that given the political polarization of the climate change debate, environmental activism is so frowned upon by those the right that they’ll do anything to keep themselves distanced from it."
Absolutely wrong. The reason is that most conservatives have researched the "green" label and found, in most cases, it is used as a) a sales gimmick b) as a sales gimmick based on erroneous data c) a sales gimmick rooted in the cause of "saving the earth" which has proven to be pure hyperbole d) a sales gimmick that when, in depth analysis is done, most often results in the discovery that the "green" item actually utilizes more energy in its production than the item it's replacing.
None of the above are mutually exclusive and any combination of the above may be true.
I do not automatically believe anything is "green" until I research it. The progressive/liberal is mentally roped to labels and therefore does not bother to find out the truth and blindly follows the label's path to their own self-aggrandizement as a "saver of the earth".
As a conservative I’m always looking for ways to conserve or save but I also want products that work and can be bought at a reasonable price.
The real reason they are pushing the public to “energy efficient” (lower wattage, harsher lighting) bulbs is to shift that power usage to recharging electric toy cars.
And the new televisions use more power than the old ones.
How Do You Get Conservatives to Buy Energy Efficient Products?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Make them cheap and effective.
Right now all energy efficient products are bascially fetishes. They look cool, signify high status among liberals, and do not really do the job because they sacrifice performance, reliability and quality. They are also too expensive.
However when the economy fails due to these fetishes, we conservatives will be riding horses while liberals are left in the dirt pulsing their electric cars into rust.
My problem with the “Green Products” is that the marketplace DEMAND has been removed from the equation. Rump pumping faggots have more rights than citizens who just want light bulbs and toilets and showerheads that work.
THOSE things have been outlawed by “bedroom”, “bathroom”, “kitchen”, “living room” police without outrage from liberals who are content to engage in abnormal sexual activities in daylight at pride parades or darkened bedrooms.
I gave up on the CFL bulbs because they didnt last as long as advertised and the reported negative health effects. I am systematically replacing my incandescents with LED lights though because they do offer real savings over the long term, they last for years and the price is coming down. I won’t buy a hybrid car for the same reasons I won’t buy CFLs. I will buy a diesel though.
As someone said above, I’m not married to the Green meme. I do my own research.
False premise.
You totally misunderstand (purposefully?) what's going on.
I have absolutely no problem with conservation.
I DO have a problem with the forced, false conservation that is FORCED upon us.
...or...”How do you get Conservatives to buy BS?” (Same question I think).
Superb analysis.
What you said.
Reducing foreign oil is a huge canard. We don't use foreign oil to provide electricity and there is a natural gas glut and a predicted long-term huge supply of it.
Our biggest use for oil is in transportation. The only thing that will reduce foreign oil is more drilling and production here.
Perhaps the conservatives simply recognize BS better than the leftist sheeple.
I also refer to the Honda Prius as the Smug-mobile.
Conservatives aren’t anti-conservation. We are anti-Green(tm). Green(tm) is a marketing movement designed to teach Americans to lower their standard of living. Green(tm) rarely does what it advertises, but we are told to do it anyway because its gooooood.
Its all sizzle, but no steak. Its all hat and no cattle. We like steak and cattle. Leftists tell us that we should demand more sizzle and hat.
I use CFLs in most of my house. But some light fixtures just need a white hot burning tungsten filament, like the lights over the bathroom mirror.
I drive a car that gets 23 mpg, which isn’t great by Green(tm) standards, but when you factor in its 306 hp, that’s pretty darned good!
I replaced my A/C unit last year with a new high-efficiency unit just to save money and energy.
I would put a solar array on my house, if I could afford it. I’d have a windmill if I lived in windmill country and, again, could afford it.
But, half of my salary goes to pay taxes so missing links to sit on their ass all day and collect welfare or warm the chairs in government offices, so my Green(tm) options are limited.
I guess that’s the real difference. When a Conservative wants to conserve, he pays for the equipment to do it and uses it wisely. When a Leftist wants to conserve, she demands that I pay for it, and doesn’t care if it works at all, as long as it makes her feel good.
The company I work for has several products which are “green.” They are sold in states where the products that actually work are outlawed. Sales are near $0.00 in places where the green products are not required. People buy them because htey have to not because they want to.
The only “green” things I use right now are those stupid curly light bulbs. I hate the light they give out, but they are saving me money and they do last a very long time. In fact, the only bulb I’ve had to replace was dead right out of the box. The first one I screwed in nearly 5 years ago is still working.
But the light they give out bugs the tar out of me.
I was in a Target store yesterday and decided I needed some light bulbs. Walking down the aisle, I discovered my only choices were $30 CFL bulbs made by GE or $45 LED bulbs made by GE. I make a good living but I decided I couldn’t afford to change my bulbs and certainly wasn’t going to give GE any business. It’s sickening to me that changing a burnt out bulb has devolved into a major investment. I honestly don’t know how people with lower incomes are surviving today.
I don’t trust liars, which most conservatives consider a reasonable position, so we have a logical reaction to products advertised as “green”. If the manufacturer needs to resort to a tenuous connection between my choice of light bulb and a polar bear drowning, they may also be overstating other aspects of the green choice. If I can see straightforward data that show the CFL or LED bulb will save me money, or trouble (that LED bulb at 20’ that I’ll probably never replace again is well worth it!), then I’m all for it. If they need to make things up, “buy this bulb or half of Bangladesh will drown”, then I need to check their claims even more carefully, if I consider their product at all.
Anyone with a brain can figure out that it’s better to use less energy. We throw less crap in the air that we breath and the price of energy won’t go up if we don’t have to build that next power plant.
I think conservatives balk because conserving energy has a small benefit for the individual. The benefit is collective. The mindset to do something for the collective (give up a freedom for the common good) is repulsive to me, but it is central to the thought process of the progressive (to the extent that they think).
Most “conservative/liberal” arguments boil down to whether you believe in freedom for the individual or you want to make decisions for the collective good.
Because a lot of the efficient products SUCK! And out of the ones that aren’t terrible outright, many don’t cover the full range of uses the product they “replace” did, like the light bulbs.
I don’t mind the extra second or two of warm up in exchange for much less heat, but I’m in GA so that’s a valuable plus to me. Someone who wants it to keep a well house from freezing or warm chicks would find the product I’m delighted with to be completely unsuitable, even tho they both put out light.
Both of the things I mentioned are actual points Freepers have made, btw. Not everyone wants a light bulb purely for light, and not everyone views a cooler bulb as a wonderful improvement!
I for one, avoid doing business with companies that push this cr*p, because if they lie about this, what else are they lying about and two, if they think I'm stupid enough to buy their products, not on the basis of usefulness, quality and price, but on "green" propaganda, I don't do business with companies that insult me. Also, they must think their products can't compete, except for "green" cr*p. The other guy's products are probably better.
I did get a Nest thermostat a few months ago, in an effort to not use so much heating oil to heat my house. It's a nice device, and seems to do a good job, but I installed in late Feb so unsure if it's really saved much yet. But on vacation, you can turn the heat down, and turn it back up when you're an hour away from home, so that's got to be worth something.