tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post1514934022151564352..comments2024-02-20T13:32:06.704-05:00Comments on Resource Insights: Less energy is better--reallyKurt Cobbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05330759091950742285noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-38386360468244790522011-07-25T04:18:11.000-04:002011-07-25T04:18:11.000-04:00@Colin Crawford: As Europe gets hotter, energy use...@Colin Crawford: As Europe gets hotter, energy use will not change much. Northern Europe will use less, Souther Europe will use more. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421509009896Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-18118373113990110962011-07-18T09:51:31.250-04:002011-07-18T09:51:31.250-04:00Kurt, good article but I suspect as Europe gets ho...Kurt, good article but I suspect as Europe gets hotter their energy consumption (per capita or otherwise) will begin to soar. It might be "telling" if there was a comparative study of bicycle/energy use when temperatures were "normal" versus times of "higher/lower-than-normal" temps.<br /><br />John, I doubt that a valid "counter example" exists. In fact, my observations and experiences indicate that the situation is much worse than you allude. Of course, you are correct, just look at how the GOP-T party is trying to make a "scapegoat" of Obama for problems they, themselves, have created.<br /><br />Chris, I really wish I'd been able to visit your fair country. Alas, it would appear that the "American delusion" has infected a large portion of your countrymen. Regardless, you have hit an important point that doesn't get enough "credit." It <b>IS</b> merely "baseless belief" that direct the actions (or lack thereof) of far too many people in both our countries. I am fairly certain that their self-delusion has condemned 6+ Billion people to death over the coming decades and I do not think there is any way to avoid that. :(Colin Crawfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-15352596172864982402011-07-18T02:02:28.081-04:002011-07-18T02:02:28.081-04:00Here in Australia there's a dogged campaign ag...Here in Australia there's a dogged campaign against the national government's proposed carbon tax, because people generally believe they are already paying enough for energy and don't with to pay more. Yet we pay about half that of Japanese or Italians. It's what people are used to.<br /><br />And then, a perplexing story: My NGO has been conducting door-to-door interviews about home energy usage, and one of the most startling findings is that when asked if they are doing better or worse than their neighbours (regarding home energy efficiency) every single respondent out of over 400 households said they are doing better. It goes without saying, that is impossible because everybody can't be doing better than everyone else, so we conclude that most people have an elevated sense of their energy efficiency performance. <br /><br />Maybe somebody can tell me what's going on here? It seems that most people already believe they are doing their best, even when they are not doing much at all.Chris Harrieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02370032392696620448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8861605.post-46272493230420122822011-07-17T21:15:12.702-04:002011-07-17T21:15:12.702-04:00People will fight wars for God, king, and country;...People will fight wars for God, king, and country; in other words, kill.<br /><br />My observations and reading lead me to conclude that far less common are ethical actions for God, king and country. <br /><br />Shared sacrifice didn't work when Jimmy Carter proposed it. It did work for a limited time during WWII, but that was because we were fighting "evil," and the fight part of that was probably what fired up the population.<br /><br />So I guess what I'm saying is unless there is an enemy orscapegoat, I'm not sure it's possible to entice the masses to do the right thing.<br /><br />Could someone please supply a counter-exmaple to prove me wrong?John Andersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17222958547864356881noreply@blogger.com