I have to say that, despite considering myself a bit of an environmentalist, Earth Day grates
- It seems to be an excuse for people to congratulate themselves for essentially meaningless gestures. Oh, you showered for seven minutes instead of 8? Great — now we’ll run out of oil thirty seconds later!
- Frontline took the opportunity to broadcast their documentary saying that climate change was the Bush Administration’s fault.
The Bush Administration screwed up a number of things, but there is some irony that government-funded public television has several programs (NOW, Frontline, Bill Moyers) that are pretty much singularly dedicated to playing up problems and blaming them on the Administration. Then there’s NPR…. - Oh, and while Green is again Universal for today, next week Matt Lauer (along with his crew) starts circling the world for no particular reason other than to goose ratings.
- But do make sure to unplug your toaster when it’s not running, because that wastes energy…
- I’m curious how many people would have to unplug their toasters in order to cover the environmental footprint for producing that video.
- One more — as tired as I think the criticisms of Google for ignoring patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans Day are, seeing what a big deal they make out of Earth Day, their ignorance of what it took to create a nation where a company like Google could even exist is a bit jarring.
In short, Earth Day, seems like a day to celebrate ourselves, which seems to be the trend in holidays these days. Halloween is a lot bigger these days, too, because it’s all about us expressing ourselves. If a holiday doesn’t give us a chance to tell ourselves how great we are, it’s doomed.
