Watts up? A bright idea (Global Warming/Oprah/Environmental Whacko Alert)

Newsday ^ | 3/16/2006 | RHODA AMON

[Born Conservative]

Pupils launch bid to save Americans $2.3B in electric costs; seek Oprah's help in plan to dole out lightbulbs

Qiana Marks and 200 other North Babylon students hope to save the Earth - and also save the American public $2.3 billion in electric costs.

It's all part of a campaign begun yesterday in the Robert Moses Middle School to "fight global warming one lightbulb at a time," said Kenny Luna, eighth-grade science teacher.

Luna and his students want to give an energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulb to every school child in America, "all 50 million between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade."

They're asking TV star Oprah Winfrey to help spread the word.

CFL bulbs use an average 75 percent less energy than normal lightbulbs. If every student changed one bulb, the saving at $46 per bulb would add up to $2.3 billion, Luna calculated.

[Born Conservative]

If you have asked to be added to this list, and haven’t been receiving the pings, please let me know. I’ve had a problem with my file synchronization between my home and work computer, and apparently have lost some names on the list. I think I have the problem fixed, and will gladly re-add your name.

[wolfcreek]

I applaud their effort but, florescent light makes you moody. I've tried them and they really don't last long enough to justify their price.

[ClearCase_guy]

florescent light makes you moody

Part of the Enviro-wacko plan! Moody, unhappy people think that the world is an evil place, and that Big Government will rescue us from our unhappiness. More florescent light = more Democrat voters. [/tin-foil hat]

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[Graybeard58]

It's all part of a campaign begun yesterday in the Robert Moses Middle School to "fight global warming one lightbulb at a time,"

The disturbing part is that teachers are presenting the global warming B.S. as fact and the kids are eating it up.

[babyface00]

florescent light makes you moody

Have you tried LED lights? I haven't, but have heard good things about them. However, they're even more expensive than fluorescent, although I think they use even less energy.

[tlb]

Long life power efficient light bulbs are worthwhile whatever you think of the collateral political/enviromental issues. They aren't especially suitable for reading lamps but in places such as hallways, kitchens, etc as the article points out they save a good piece of cash in electricity and bulb replacements, PLUS you eliminate the need for having to climb a ladder to change the bulb so many times. Fewer opportunities to break your neck.

Good for the kids.

[Realism]

The disturbing part is that teachers are presenting the global warming B.S. as fact and the kids are eating it up.

Who cares, if it gets them to shut the damn light off when their done with it. Conservation hurts no one, you may even save a couple bucks!

[N. Theknow]

Pupils launch bid to save Americans $2.3B in electric costs; seek Oprah's help in plan to dole out lightbulbs

Makes perfect sense.

Want to cut electricity costs, consult a dimbulb.

[Graybeard58]

Who cares, if it gets them to shut the damn light off when their done with it. Conservation hurts no one, you may even save a couple bucks!

If that was the way it was presented I would have no problem with it.

[Publius6961]

Long life power efficient light bulbs are worthwhile whatever you think of the collateral political/enviromental issues.

I gree with you. There are lots of reasons for trying these other than "saving" money.
The bulbs all carry a guarantee of longevity, which I've never pursued, but I plan to.
At 25% the energy consumption of incandescents, my (almost) 100% fluorescent lighting home does not "feel" any different than before.

[domenad]

Save some electricity? How about some of these Libs move into sub-10000 square foot houses? I think some extra electricity goes into heating, cooling, and lighting all those extra rooms, but what do I know. I'm only an electrical engineer.

[Mygirlsmom]

The disturbing part is that teachers are presenting the global warming B.S. as fact and the kids are eating it up.

Not my kids :o) One of my 6th graders is studying the newspaper and how to find information in it - right now they had to write an editorial cartoon - she chose "global warming", showing a pane of Wisconsin under a tropical sea (425 million yrs ago), under ice, and today with one guy saying "people who drive cars cause global climate change". The other guy said, "maybe you need a history lesson"

Her first choice was "how to make your teacher's head explode" which is based on her initial comments to the newspaper assignment. "What do we need newspapers for anyway - can't we just listen to Rush Limbaugh?"

To which I responded - " Now there's a statement that will make your teacher's head explode - if she doesn't have me arrested for child abuse first!"

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

It makes you MOODY?


That's really funny.

Are you afraid that it makes your butt look big?

I guess you don't care about US dependence on foriegn sources of energy?

Or are you one of those people that believe there is an umlimited amount of non-renewable resources on the globe?

Poor widdle moody Texan father of two. Don't get your panties in a bunch.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

So you don't think the climate is changing? Have you been outside lately?

It would appear that 5 or 6 standard deviations from the mean have become commonplace. Or maybe the mean has changed and we are getting more extreme weather?

[burzum]

Have you tried LED lights? I haven't, but have heard good things about them. However, they're even more expensive than fluorescent, although I think they use even less energy.

I've had a LED flashlight. They last forever. The biggest issue that I've had with LED lights is that the range is very short (they don't focus). But the increase in lifespan is phenomenal. When I was on submarines I used to change out my Maglite once or twice a week. My LED light would typically last a month or more. And then add in the fact that you don't need replacement bulbs.

I haven't used LED lights for home use, but I do use florescent bulbs (I've changed out all of my light bulbs). I did it primarily for safety issues. I have no real issues with them other than the fact that it is difficult to operate a solar powered calculator with them. I've run them for about 1 year and I haven't changed out a bulb. They're rated for 5 years so I certainly don't expect to have issues anytime soon.

[Graybeard58]

So you don't think the climate is changing? Have you been outside lately?

Of course climate changes. It's to what makes climate change that I doubt. You are looking at "climate change" since last season, not climate change history of hundreds and thousands of years.

I have about 4 inches of global warming in my drive way right now.

[Jeff F]

I use a lot of these, particularly the floodlight style ones which are also more attractive than the light bulb replacement type. Anything to avoid the hassle of constantly changing short lived incandescent bulbs.

It does frost me that these pricey bulbs don't last anything like the claimed 5 - 7 years. In the real world it is probably more like a range of 1 - 4 years. Still makes it worth while when compared to incandescents. Oh yeah, and don't try them outdoors as they are no good in cold weather.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

(425 million yrs ago)

Since you seem to agree with your daughter, perhaps we can talk about times relevant to humanity. Indeed, in the distant past, the earth has been considerably warmer. The position of the continents on the planet affect the weather, growth patterns of plants and naturally the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

The only relevant time period for us is back to about 2 million years ago. That is when North and South American were joined and the Pacific and Atlantic essentially became 2 oceans. The ice core data we have goes back about 900,000 years, but we can extrapolate to 2 million years from that date. If you look here:
http://bfsd.server.enovum.com/en/index.php?option=com_docman&task=docclick&Itemid=72&bid=72&limitstart=0&limit=20

on page nine you will see the fluctuations in CO2 in the atmosphere.

There is an predictable fluctuation between 180 and 280 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. At the bottom it was colder, at the top it was warmer. Each led either to a die-off of plants or to them thriving as the earth's ecosphere tried to achieve equilibrium (as balanced systems do).

As a result of human burning of fossil fuels we are now at 380 ppm and rising quickly.

All of these things I said are true. If you think that CO2 in the atmosphere is irrelevant that is the only argument.

But, that humans caused CO2 to rise in a fact. That the earth's climate is changing rapidly is a fact. That the concentration of CO2 is higher than it has been for at least 900,000 years is fact. That weather patterns are becoming more extreme is fact.

In January on the US East Coast the temperature was 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the mean. In February it was 7 degrees colder. The overall trend was 2 degrees warmer.

The extremes are greater, the overall trend is warmer and what happened in the distant past on the planet is irrelevant because the continents were in different places.

If you choose not to believe this fine. Would you like to buy some land in the Netherlands?