Human Achievement Hour

[Bryan]

Don't forget everyone, Human Achievement Hour tonight (march 23) at 8:30pm!

Celebrate all of mankind's tremendous achievements, and turn on all of them at the same time!

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/2245844694001

Toungue in cheek, sure, but it makes a very good point. It's our wealth and abundant energy that allows us to do things in a much cleaner way now. Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less disease and more prosperity, and we SHOULD be celebrating it!

[bush_cheney2004]

OK...but that's how I normally run this time of the year anyway for NCAA basketball, college hockey, high school basketball and hockey tournaments, and baseball spring training. Plus I like to record E! Fashion Police to catch the Joan Rivers jokes. That means six HDTVs, four DVR's, three old school VCR's, and four PC's / tablet.

Celebrate mankind !!

[The_Squid]

Don't forget everyone, Human Achievement Hour tonight (march 23) at 8:30pm!

Celebrate all of mankind's tremendous achievements, and turn on all of them at the same time!

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/2245844694001

Toungue in cheek, sure, but it makes a very good point. It's our wealth and abundant energy that allows us to do things in a much cleaner way now. Never in the history of the world has there been less hunger, less disease and more prosperity, and we SHOULD be celebrating it!

Never in history has the world been more polluted...

We need more greenies in the world. Eventually, not exploiting resources beyond their sustainability and not taking our resources and wealth for granted will become the default position and governments will finally enact proper, sensible environmental regulations. The world will be even better than it is now Bryan....

[Guest]

Never in history has the world been more polluted...

Never in history has the world been more populated. Everybody eats, drinks, stays warm, works, everybody has waste. How could we not be more polluted?

[The_Squid]

Everybody eats, drinks, stays warm, works, everybody has waste. How could we not be more polluted?

You think the earth has an unlimited capacity to deal with our pollution? There are ways not to pollute, or at least to minimize it. Edited March 23, 2013 by The_Squid

[Guest]

You think the earth has an unlimited capacity to deal with our pollution?

I most certainly do not, no.

[Bryan]

Never in history has the world been more polluted...

Third world countries that are just starting to become industrialized are certainly increasing their pollution, but the industrialized nations have drastically reduced theirs. It's far less polluted in Canada and the US than it was just a few decades ago. It's affluence and technology that has allowed us to do that. We should be encouraging that and celebrating our achievements.

[Shady]

Never in history has the world been more polluted...

How about in 1883? When Krakatoa erupted.

[Bryan]

Bjorn Lomborg's take:

Blinded by the Light

The organizers say that they are providing a way to demonstrate one’s desire to “do something” about global warming. But the stark reality is that Earth Hour teaches all the wrong lessons, and actually increases CO2 emissions. It may inspire virtuous feelings, but its vain symbolism reveals exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good environmentalism.

And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels – and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Using one candle for each switched-off bulb cancels out even the theoretical CO2 reduction; using two candles means that you emit more CO2.

Electricity has given humanity huge benefits. Almost three billion people still burn dung, twigs, and other traditional fuels indoors to cook and keep warm, generating noxious fumes that kill an estimated two million people each year, mostly women and children. Likewise, just a hundred years ago, the average American family spent six hours each week during cold months shoveling six tons of coal into the furnace (not to mention cleaning the coal dust from carpets, furniture, curtains, and bedclothes). In the developed world today, electric stoves and heaters have banished indoor air pollution.

Electricity has allowed us to irrigate fields and synthesize fertilizer from air. The light that it powers has enabled us to have active, productive lives past sunset. The electricity that people in rich countries consume is, on average, equivalent to the energy of 56 servants helping them. Even people in Sub-Saharan Africa have electricity equivalent to about three servants. They need more of it, not less.

This is relevant not only for the world’s poor. Because of rising energy prices from green subsidies, 800,000 German households can no longer pay their electricity bills. In the UK, there are now over five million fuel-poor people, and the country’s electricity regulator now publicly worries that environmental targets could lead to blackouts in less than nine months.

Read the rest here, it's a very good argument, perhaps a little more mature than Ezra's position (SHOCK!!!!)

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/earth-hour-s-counterproductive-symbolism-by-bj-rn-lomborg

Edited March 24, 2013 by Bryan

[Accountability Now]

I have often judged the human achievement by our life expectancy. Obviously we are living much longer than our ancestors and for the most part we have a better quality of life. However just when we thought the battle was won, we start to find new battles. Look at the massive increase in allergies, asthma and other autoimmune diseases. These things have been increasing drastically in an age where we are supposed to be the healthiest ever. I don't know why they are increasing but it sure seems like pollutants have something to do with it. Much like other achievements we made...PCBs, CFCs, lead paint, etc....we can never feel like we have achieved anything! Always question what we have because we truly don't know all that it brings. Our society is based on two steps forward one step back. So we should be proud of what we have done but never pay ourselves on the back too much as the job is never done.

[Moonlight Graham]

Don't forget everyone, Human Achievement Hour tonight (march 23) at 8:30pm!

Celebrate all of mankind's tremendous achievements, and turn on all of them at the same time!

That's pretty funny.

[Moonlight Graham]

Electricity and other human technology has been very good for humans, but pretty much horrid for many other lora and fauna organisms and the overall health of the planet. We can do a lot better to live in a more sustainable balance with the earth.

[TimG]

but pretty much horrid for many other lora and fauna organisms and the overall health of the planet.

Millions (if not billions) of species have gone extinct long before humans appear. Why should be be concerned that this extinction process continues?

We can do a lot better to live in a more sustainable balance with the earth.

A lovely buzzword but what does it really mean? Environmentalists claim that the current lifestyle is unsustainable but that often sounds like a rehash of the discredited Malthusian logic. Most rich countries have more forest cover today than they did 100 years ago because the need for land is decreasing. Climate change is often rolled out as a boogyman but I have yet to see an evidence that it is likely to be a net harm.

[Moonlight Graham]

Millions (if not billions) of species have gone extinct long before humans appear. Why should be be concerned that this extinction process continues?

There's a big difference between species becoming extinct through natural processes like natural selection, and them becoming extinct through destructive human behaviour like ie: pollution. We are a part of the earth's environment, we cannot live without it despite all of our technological achievements, so it would make sense to preserve that which we need to survive. It's also pretty to look at haha.

[GostHacked]

Millions (if not billions) of species have gone extinct long before humans appear. Why should be be concerned that this extinction process continues?A lovely buzzword but what does it really mean? Environmentalists claim that the current lifestyle is unsustainable but that often sounds like a rehash of the discredited Malthusian logic. Most rich countries have more forest cover today than they did 100 years ago because the need for land is decreasing. Climate change is often rolled out as a boogyman but I have yet to see an evidence that it is likely to be a net harm.

We are having a direct impact to the survival of other species on this planet. Pollution, cities, interstate hiways, shipping traffic, urban expansion ect ect all have a huge impact on the environment and the ability to sustain other species.

Climate change is not the issue to me in that regard, it's simply how we as humans live have a huge impact on that.

[Boges]

Human Achievement Hour is as equally as silly as Earth Hour.

It may have been cute 5 years ago but participating does nothing to help people be more environmental. Lights contribute very little to a person's hydro bill. I'm sure people wouldn't be turning off their furnace Saturday night.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Boges

[Moonlight Graham]

Human Achievement Hour is as equally as silly as Earth Hour.

It may have been cute 5 years ago but participating does nothing to help people be more environmental. Lights contribute very little to a person's hydro bill. I'm sure people wouldn't be turning off their furnace Saturday night.

Let's have a "Don't Bathe for a Week" campaign.

[Bryan]

Human Achievement Hour is as equally as silly as Earth Hour.

That's pretty much the point.

[Mighty AC]

I am a proponent of sustainability but not a big fan of Earth Hour. It`s designed to build awareness not to save actual energy, but I`m not sure that it really achieves that goal.

Natural processes use resources in sustainable cycles. Think of carbon, water and nitrogen cycles as examples. Human resource use tends to be linear, beginning with mining and ending with waste. We already have the knowledge and technology to make most of our resource use cyclical, we just lack awareness and the political will.