Unintended consequences
HAVE you ever noticed a friend or neighbour driving a new hybrid car and felt pressure to trade in your gas guzzler? Or worried about what people might think when you drive up to the office in an SUV?
That’s the question in a New Scientist article on how we could cut down on damage to the environment by making people ‘fess up to what they consume. HotAir ran it under the headline Newest solution to global warming: Shame.
The author studied the way subjects would selfishly abuse shared resources — basically, the tragedy of the commons — but could be persuaded not to if everyone was aware how much everyone else was consuming.
See, this is why the excess of liberals in academia is a problem. You miss subtle data points, like MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT ASHAMED OF HOW MUCH ENERGY THEY USE. We pay for what we get, fair and square. Through the nose, even. What’s to be ashamed?
Energy consumption is a proxy for success. Bigger cars, bigger houses, maybe a boat or motorbike, lots of air travel — the good life is hell on your carbon footprint. Arch warmist and soon-to-be green billionaire Al Gore has a fucking GIGANTIC carbon footprint (I remind you, one of his three mansions uses twenty times the energy of the average American family home). If he’s not ashamed, why would I be?
Only in a leftist’s — or Christian missionary’s — dream world is a thin, dry, gray life of parsimony a status symbol. For the rest of us, we’re pretty proud of our toys. I predict outting the carbon exploiters wouldn’t play out quite the way it did in a university lab.
Say, did you catch yourself thinking, “gosh, I wish there was a range of quality merchandise with this logo or design emblazoned on it?” Well, it’s your lucky day!
Posted: November 17th, 2009 under gaia, politics, science, t-shirts.
Comments: 36
Comments
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: November 17, 2009, 5:35 pm
Shameless, just shameless…
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 5:38 pm
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: the McRib Locator.
Spotted in a Bill Corbett tweet.
Comment from Oldcat
Time: November 17, 2009, 6:06 pm
So every moral and ethical failing makes you a celebrity, but carbon footprint makes you shameful?
Comment from Roman Wolf
Time: November 17, 2009, 6:45 pm
I’m way behind on my shaming quota…
…hey, I come from a long line of Christian Missionaries and I’ve got to keep up the family business.
And a bigger house, bigger car, ect, ect…does not a good life make. Everyone knows that all that matters is the quality and quantity of your liquor. Everything else is secondary.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 6:46 pm
Hahaha…I should have knowed. I’m not the first person to do a My Carbon Footprint is Bigger Than Yours series on Zazzle. There are several. The iconography is even similar.
Baaahhhh.
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 6:57 pm
Well, I’ve said it many times on many forums, but I don’t know if I’ve said it here:]
FUCK THE NEO-DRUIDIC COMMUNIST MOVEMENT!!!
There, that’s out of my system.
I need a bumper sticker that says I LOVE CO2. Plants LOVE CO2. CO2 makes them grow faster. If you want a better yield in your greenhouse, use a concentrator to increase the CO2 level in the greenhouse.
You would think that Hippy Potheads would LOVE something that makes their pot plants grow bigger and healthier…..
Comment from BuckNutty
Time: November 17, 2009, 7:03 pm
Now that’s a bumper sticker
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 7:27 pm
LOL… Gotta say, I love the new Zombie Reagan Greeting Cards…..
WE HAVE LIT THE SIGNAL!!!!
(I also need a bumper sticker that says “My SUV ran over your Hybrid”)……
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 7:59 pm
Thank you, Scoob. Nobody’s mentioned The Signal yet and I was quite proud of it.
You did notice what the signal is? <squints at you>
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:04 pm
Hm. That’s pretty good. How about “The rainforest loves CO2 – you knew that, right?”
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:06 pm
Of Course. Michelle Malkin would be proud… ๐
If I run into her at Whole Foods, I’ll let her know about them……
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:06 pm
that works….. ๐
Comment from Heinlein Republican
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:18 pm
Jimmy Fallon has me so ashamed I wont even keep my CFL bulbs on anymore.
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:28 pm
If I might make a silly suggestion…
You might put out some shirts with a choice of logo on the back, and the “Release the weasel” logo on the left breast.
Comment from dfbaskwill
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:29 pm
The McRib Locator was worth every penny of admission to this site! It’s been years since I have partaken of the forbidden meat-like sandwich with BBQ sauce, onions and pickles.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:36 pm
I played around with some two-sided shirts, Scoob, but it makes the price suddenly shoot up to nearly thirty bucks. That struck me as a hell of a lot to pay for a t-shirt. Yeah, I’ve got the weasel, like, 90% done…but somehow, I can’t get the facial expression right. I know that sounds stupid, but it’s true.
WHAT do they put IN to those damn McRib things, df? I mean, other than mechanically separated lips and assholes? I am ashamed of my enjoyment thereof, however many years in the past it was. I think I snuck back for one every day until the circus left town.
My favorite gas station sold a passable McRib pressed pork sammich that could be re-heated in a skillet to an acceptable standard.
Didn’t the Simpsons do an episode about Homer quitting his job and following a pork sandwich across the country like a culinary Deadhead?
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:40 pm
DF, the McRib always seemed to be nothing more than Lite Spam boiled in bad BBQ sauce to me. You’d think that they would have at least used KC Masterpiece on them….
Come to think about it, they should be the standard diet for our guests at GITMO… ๐
(lol… I just had a vision of Chef Guy Fiori shuddering in horror at that thought..)
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 8:43 pm
Mmmmmm….Spam.
Comment from Giles
Time: November 17, 2009, 9:03 pm
Ms W.,
Long-time reader, rare commenter, but you’ve just given me the perfect Christmas present idea for my aging, grumpy father. And also for my aging, grumpy self.
Don’t spend those crazy Zazzle dollars all at once, now.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 17, 2009, 9:17 pm
Are you a Brit, Giles? I ask, because — well, come on! How may Americans are called “Giles”?
If so, try using a .co.uk extension to the Zazzle store address. They have a presence in the UK, but all the stuff is made in California. That means there are potentially Customs issues. And product limits.
Using a region specific address gives you prices in local currency. Though, apparently, much higher base prices because it takes into account Customs and shipping. I haven’t ordered anything myself.
Oh, and if you’re American…ummm…sorry for making fun of your name.
Comment from Allen
Time: November 17, 2009, 9:57 pm
All the zazzle stuff is made in California, hmmmm that gives me an idea.
I really do wonder about some members of our species. Our noggins evolved to maximize our potential for survival, and some people think fire was a bad idea? I would enjoy watching The Professor try his hand as a hunter-gatherer.
“Son, naked, shoeless, hungry, and shivering in the cold is no way to go through life.”
“But I have no carbon footprint!”
“Neither do dead people.”
Why the hell do they call it a carbon footprint? It’s a carbon dioxide footprint. That’s right, no chemistry for the enviro set.
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 17, 2009, 10:10 pm
that’s OK Allen. Ever gotten a group of hippies going about their DiHydrogen Monoxide use?
Loads of laughs if you can do it……
Comment from Allen
Time: November 17, 2009, 10:28 pm
Scuba, that one cracks me up. I prefer the “photothermal heating” one myself. Wow, great idea… what’s it mean? Ummmm, laying in the sun at the beach.
Comment from Gregory the First
Time: November 17, 2009, 10:33 pm
Heya Weas!
Ya know, it’s a surname, but I do recall a fetching lass by the name of Hannah Giles…
And I staunchly disagree that Christian missionaries’ dream world is without creature comforts. It’s just that when it comes to *our* creature comforts, they’re are out of this world, literally.
Comment from Nicole
Time: November 17, 2009, 11:13 pm
Though I only had the patience to look through the first page of carbon footprint merch, your’s is definitely the best looking one, Weasel. And I loved the Reagan signal as well.
Comment from porknbean
Time: November 18, 2009, 1:38 am
I’m liking the ‘Guards, release the weasel’ logo, muchly.
Comment from Glenster
Time: November 18, 2009, 9:41 am
“Cry havoc, and let loose the Weasel Of War”??
I like it!
Comment from Clifford Skridlow
Time: November 18, 2009, 10:58 am
I’ve been lurking for a while and enjoy all your work. Should the “release the weasel” shirts become available, you will find yourself in a swirling vortex of zazzle bux the likes of which you wouldn’t believe. Trust me. . .
Comment from poindexter
Time: November 18, 2009, 12:42 pm
Just bought a sheet of stickers; I may put one on our SUV (2005 Ford Expedition) to balance the eco-looking sticker on our rear bumper that says “Hydrocarbon Powered Vehicle”. Heh. ..poindexter..
Comment from Tibby
Time: November 18, 2009, 1:58 pm
I’ve been checking for the weasel tee, that’s the one I want.
Comment from eddiebear
Time: November 18, 2009, 2:25 pm
oh, and just so everybody recalls:
Carbon offsets are for idiots
http://doubleplusundead.mee.nu/fuck_you_you_gaia-worshipping_enviro-weenie_hippie_douchebags
Comment from Dawn
Time: November 18, 2009, 3:56 pm
I forgot to mention how amazing my monkey moron t-shirt was. And zazzle threw in an extra t-shirt too. I got a two-fer.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 18, 2009, 4:37 pm
Gosh! They did? And you’re sure they didn’t charge you?
That’s got to do something to their profit margins. I wonder why they did that.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 18, 2009, 6:03 pm
Eleven foot high Fred Rogers rendered in chipped beef. Okay, not really. It’s just the fugliest bronze I ever did see.
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: November 18, 2009, 6:40 pm
OMG!!! Couldn’t they have hired a sculptor with TALENT? That thing looks more like the Golgothan Shit Demon from Dogma than a tribute to a famous childrens entertainer….. ๐
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iLSmTPwJGZY/SqPRJmZTtQI/AAAAAAAAcaA/CcJG6nWNtgA/s400/1.jpg
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: November 18, 2009, 6:48 pm
AIII! You’re right! It does!
Write a comment
Beware: more than one link in a comment is apt to earn you a trip to the spam filter, where you will remain -- cold, frightened and alone -- until I remember to clean the trap. But, hey, without Akismet, we'd be up to our asses in...well, ass porn, mostly.<< carry me back to ol' virginny