The April 9, 2007 edition of Time (Canada) is a huge Special Double Issue dedicated to global warming. The headlines border on the irresponsible. Consider:
"Our feverish planet badly needs a cure".
The planet is not fevered. It has experienced a slight overall rise in temperature. Worse, this headline suggests that the Earth has a single optimum climate and that any variation constitutes a malady. Misleading, irresponsible journalism.
"Treating the First Casualty". Hurricanes like Katrina have happened in the past; they will undoubtedly happen in the future. Attributing the Katrina tragedy to global warming in a cause-effect manner is opportunistic. Why not attribute last year's calm season also to global warming and tout the benificent effects?
Among the lifestyle-changing ideas the Special Edition suggests: change your lightbulbs, use a clothesline; ride the bus; wear old clothes, ride the bus.
My favourite one is number 31: Wear green eye shadow. I just couldn't bring myself to read this one, but I suspect wearing no eye shadow (as I am committed to doing) is even better.
Another one -- plant a tree in the tropics -- is worth considering. The latest wisdom is that tropical trees are GOOD -- they absorb C02, while trees in temperate latitudes (like the US and Canada) have a warming effect -- they are BAD.
If this is so, shouldn't a corollary action to planting a tree in the tropics be cut down a tree in Canada or the US?
Perhaps Time is pro-life when it comes to trees. Come to think of it, a lot of trees were killed to produce this edition of Time.
And, while Time didn't hesitate to say "wear your old clothes longer", advice you won't hear from the uber-trendy fashion industry, Time didn't suggest that consumers cancel their C02-causing magazine subscriptions.
It seems that one's commitment to combating global warming ends at the point where self-interest begins.
I'm not going to cancel my subscription to Time, but I am going to let it quietly expire.
And that's the way the Ball bounces.
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