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DNC Not as Green as Planned
CNET ^ | August 28, 2008 | Declan McCullagh

Posted on 08/30/2008 1:55:39 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark

DENVER--The Democratic Party has boasted that its convention here will be "the most environmentally-sustainable" gathering in the party's history, complete with a director of sustainability, low-power lighting in some areas, and calculations of carbon footprints.

Some of the goals include diverting 85 percent of waste that would normally go to a landfill, finding hundreds of people to sort waste into recycling-compost-landfill containers, and devising what The Wall Street Journal described as "lean 'n' green" catering guidelines that say food described thusly must not be fried and shall contain three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.

That was the claim. And it has worked to a large extent: a troika of trash containers (again, recycling, compost, and landfill) dot the convention complex, even in areas that aren't officially part of the event. Drinking straws are made from corn and biodegradable. Room keys for hotels are made of wood. Delegates are buying carbon offsets.

But reality doesn't always match expectations. Bikes aren't permitted inside the convention's security perimeter, so golf carts and other vehicles are used. The wooden card keys proved buggy, and some were replaced with more-reliable plastic. Fried mini-donuts were prominently on sale inside the Pepsi Center. Party VIPs and celebrities told their decidedly non-green town cars and GMC Yukon XL mega-SUVs--rented from limo provider A Class Above Transportation--to idle, with engines and air conditioning on, in the nearby pickup area. (What self-respecting conference-goer wants to climb into a GMC Yukon when it's a toasty 93 degrees in the shade?)

Plus, a gathering of tens of thousands of people (and perhaps 70,000 for Barack Obama's Thursday acceptance speech) generate a whopping amount of trash. Even if it's sorted, recycling Obama-Biden signs takes energy, as does trucking in what the Journal reported to be 900 volunteers to monitor waste cans and perform the trash-separation, thereby taking them away from tasks that might be more productive.

Let us stipulate that the Democratic Party, perhaps because it was good marketing or perhaps because it was a sound principle, made an effort to promote recycling here. But whopping huge mounds of trash remain unavoidable--and the presence of idling SUVs--show that the concept remains more of a slogan than reality. (Then again, probably the only way to hold a "green" convention is to do it entirely over the Internet.)


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008dncconvention; denver; dnc2008; environment; green; greens; hypocrisy; obama
Mountains of trash, idling SUV's and limos for VIP's (You know, the "rules" don't apply for them.), hotel keys that don't work right.... yep sounds like the PR was a lot different than the reality.
1 posted on 08/30/2008 1:56:03 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

Check the link for some of the debris left behind the 4 day rally for U.S. communism.


2 posted on 08/30/2008 1:56:42 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

Shining examples of hypocrisy and “don’t do as I do, do as I say”


3 posted on 08/30/2008 1:59:06 AM PDT by BigSkyFreeper (There is no alternative to the GOP except varying degrees of insanity)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

I actually remember reading the stories leading up to the convention about how they were “going green” and all that.


4 posted on 08/30/2008 1:59:59 AM PDT by BigSkyFreeper (There is no alternative to the GOP except varying degrees of insanity)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

The DNC was specifying unheard-of stuff for delegate bling, like tote bags made from organic materials manufactured by union shops in the USA. It doesn’t exist, because the unions don’t really care about the environmentalists, the environmentalists don’t care about the manufacturers, etc.. Their constituencies are so “diverse”, they don’t have a lot of common interests, only self interest.


5 posted on 08/30/2008 2:04:46 AM PDT by HAL9000 ("No one made you run for president, girl."- Bill Clinton)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark
Plus, a gathering of tens of thousands of people (and perhaps 70,000 for Barack Obama's Thursday acceptance speech) generate a whopping amount of trash.

One would think that the quantity of discarded syringes and prophylactics alone would qualify the grounds as a biohazard.

6 posted on 08/30/2008 2:22:09 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

Sadly and predictable among many anti-American leftists at the DNC, many American flags are also in the trash at the DNC.


7 posted on 08/30/2008 2:36:02 AM PDT by johnthebaptistmoore (Vote for conservatives AT ALL POLITICAL LEVELS! Encourage all others to do the same on November 4!)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

8 posted on 08/30/2008 3:08:56 AM PDT by Libloather (August is Liberal Awareness Month.)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

Perhaps when they said they were going to be “green” they were talking about experience.


9 posted on 08/30/2008 3:19:37 AM PDT by SampleMan (We are a free and industrious people, socialist nannies do not become us.)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

I think they lied. LOL


10 posted on 08/30/2008 3:26:57 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

What about the tree that died to provide the room keys?


11 posted on 08/30/2008 5:40:27 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: Libloather
This is NOT trash. This is what dims trash - the U. S. Flag.


12 posted on 08/30/2008 5:56:21 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (Sarah Palin is NOT worried about anything being above her pay grade!)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

“...finding hundreds of people to sort waste into recycling-compost-landfill containers..”

Are these the millions of green jobs Obambi said he’d create?

Sorting garbage to save the planet, my life’s dream job. Where do I sign up?


13 posted on 08/30/2008 7:53:15 AM PDT by y6162 (uot)
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To: PittsburghAfterDark

>> low-power lighting in some areas

With Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, and Helen Thomas slithering around, they might want to expand that effort. The eyesight it saves might be YOURS!!


14 posted on 08/30/2008 7:59:47 AM PDT by Mike-o-Matic
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