Eyeless Nowhere Near GazaEz had to miss the Global Warming Cafe last night at the Unitarian Church. He felt really bad about missing an opportunity to discuss the size of his carbon footprint with other concerned fans of the planet.
Truth was that he couldn't siphon enough gas out of his lawnmower to tank up his Japanese import to drive the 10 miles to the Unitarian Church to talk about all the interesting ways that he could reduce global warming like washing his clothes in Buttermilk Falls or refusing to buy toilet paper for a year.
You see, Ez is a little strapped for cash after paying taxes to the county that keeps the roads repaired so that country boys in their big Ford pickups or 18 wheelers can barrel ass their way down Rt 79 every day at 85 miles per hour, leaving a carbon imprint ten miles long from Richford to Ithaca. These good ole boys are lining up once a week at the pump to get their 50 gallon fix, which all goes to support more drilling to find even more natural gas and oil reserves in formerly pristine little places like the Arctic wilderness or the floors of the world's oceans. Of course, the oil companies are making record profits , some of which also trickles down via dividend checks into the pockets of shareholders, big and small, who then run out to the store in their late model SUV's to buy other products that also end up consuming more of the world's dwindling energy supply. And so on and so on but we all know that, don't we, and that's why we go to Global Warming Cafes in the first place to find out what we can do.
It's sad that more people out in the boonies don't use public transportation or Ez could have taken the bus to the Global Warming Cafe. The last bus from where Ez is living stops running at 6pm when the last Cornell employee is dropped off. Public transportation around Ithaca is pretty much subsidized by the colleges but, on the other hand, all those discount cards they hand out to students must reduce operating revenue, and, if you choose to look at it that way, limit the amount of funds available for reinvestment in fuel efficency. Not like anyone who can afford to go to Cornell or IC needs help with the bus fare.
Funny thing is that a lot of students and Cornell employees still drive to school or work as witnessed by all the cars in A lot. Cor
nell is the giant corporation, if you remember, that cut down Redbud Woods to build a parking lot. Hey, maybe all those folks who attended the Global Warming Cafe could write a letter to the guys on the Hill, even suggest that the colleges save fuel by not mowing all those massive lawns that are always kept so perfectly manicured. Buy a goat or tw0 or three hundred. Now that would be energy efficent. All that goat poop could be converted into renewable energy to run Day Hall.
Even though Ez missd the Global Warming Cafe, he's able to read all about in the Ithaca Journal which is delivered to his mailbox by.... Well, this could be an issue. How much nonrenewable energy does it cost to produce and deliver our homegrown newspaper? Oh, it's not homegrown?? (Nor is the NY Times, for that matter.) And how about all the wasted paper that goes into all the annoying advertising circulars and inserts from the big boxes you find in the Journal every week.? And how much fossil fuel could be saved if the recycling trucks didn't have to pick up those stacks of glossy underwear ads we put out by the curb?
Perhaps all those folks who did attend the GW Cafe and freely expressed their opinions to a reporter should have asked themselves how much energy alone would be saved if we didn't consume the Ithaca Journal.
But, lest we forget where it all started, you can visit scenic Richford, the place where it all started, the birthplace of John D. himself, just down the road from Ithaca. Incidentally, it's not within walking distance.
Richford is one of those small farming communities that lost its soul to the automobile. Nothing essential to community remains. Everything is elsewhere. You have to traverse that blacktop two lane somewhere over the horizon to find whatever it is. Anything and everything you want or think you need is at the mall, over at the next big box. Thanks John D.
Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 5:17 AM
