Acton Institute PowerBlog - Entries from Monday, June 4, 2007

More Matrix Anthropology

Monday, June 4, 2007

Oliver “Buzz” Thomas: “We’re like cancer. Unable to pace ourselves, we are greedily consuming our host organism (i.e. planet Earth) and getting dangerously close to killing ourselves in the process. The difference is that cancer has an excuse: No brain.”

Compare to the words of Agent Smith: “...There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.”

Be sure to take the Misanthropy Quiz.

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in Environmental Stewardship at 13:23 | Leave a comment | Trackback

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agent smith, anthropology, cancer, disease, environment, matrix, misanthropy, virus

Japan's "Cool Biz" Effort Gets Immediate Results

Monday, June 4, 2007

With more efforts like this we could solve global warming tomorrow (and mismanaged pensions, and short necks, and the auto industry, and...).

TOKYO (Reuters) - An unseasonal chill had some cabinet ministers shivering in their short-sleeved shirts as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched Japan’s annual “Cool Biz” fashion campaign to save energy and fight global warming.

Japan began its “Cool Biz” push two years ago to get office workers to shed their stuffy suits and ties and keep thermostats at 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) as a way to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Known as a stylish dresser himself, Abe had instructed his cabinet members to wear ‘kariyushi’ summer wear from the southern island of Okinawa, similar to Hawaiian aloha shirts.

“It’s nice and comfortable. But today it seems a bit chilly,” Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa, clad in a blue short-sleeved shirt imprinted with tiny red cats and birds native to Okinawa, told reporters.

“I ordered a long-sleeved shirt but they were out of stock so I could only get short-sleeved,” added Yanagisawa, who appeared pleased to have something to talk about other than a furor over mismanaged pensions that is dogging Abe’s administration.

Administrative Reform Minister Yoshimi Watanabe welcomed the chance to substitute a collarless shirt for his jacket and tie.

“It’s good for people like me with no neck,” said the stocky politician.

Economics Minister Hiroko Ota, one of only two women in Abe’s 17-member cabinet, was complimented by reporters on her striking red ‘kariyushi’ with a butterfly and floral print.

“Thank you. It’s actually still a bit cold to wear this. But this building is hot, so it’s nice,” Ota told reporters.

The temperature on Friday morning was around 4 degrees below the June 1 average of 21.8 centigrade, but was expected to warm up later, an official at the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Later in the day, Abe, keen to polish his anti-global warming credentials ahead of next week’s Group of Eight summit in Germany, took part in a demonstration of Japanese clean diesel cars at his official residence.

“I feel certain that Japan’s energy-saving technology is the best in the world,” he said before test-driving several cars.

Posted by Don Bosch in Environmental Stewardship at 09:41 | Leave a comment | Trackback

Do Nothing, Save the Planet

Monday, June 4, 2007

“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” That’s a good rule, I think.

The Care of Creation blog is noting, however, that “people who work longer hours use more energy and generally contribute more to the decline of the ecological quality of life on planet earth.”

The basis for the claim is a report that comes from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and “finds that if all countries worked as many hours per week as U.S. workers do, the world would consume 15 to 30 percent more energy by 2050 than it would by following Europe’s model.”

As I’ve asserted before, calculations that simply take into account the outputs of various environmentally-relevant factors, like GHGs, without also noting the relevant economic variables, are highly flawed.

So perhaps per capita American workers do work longer hours and therefore use more energy than their European counterparts. But do the American workers also contribute more to their respective country’s GNP than do Europeans? I’m betting they do...and it shouldn’t be surprising that all these factors correlate, because of the energy-dependent nature of the economy in the 21st century. But as recent trends suggest, perhaps even that doesn’t mean that economies must increase GHG emissions to grow.

Who gets more bang for their energy buck? The EU’s share of gross world product (GWP) is roughly 20%. Estimates put the EU’s population right around 490 million. The US’s share of GWP is larger than the EU’s, somewhere between 20% and 30%, but accomplishes that with a fraction of the population, numbering barely above 300 million.

So, work less and “save” the planet, but also contribute less to the global economy. That’s a formula for disaster.

For another take on how you can do nothing and save the planet, see the May 21 edition of the Joy of Tech comic.

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in Environmental Stewardship at 08:57 | Comments (2) | Trackback

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economy, energy, european union, gross world product, population, united states