Is It Really?

I was walking downtown today, and I noticed that all the city buses have a sign on the back that says "zero emissions vehicle." That's because they all use electric power lines that run down the middle of the street.

At first I thought, well that's nice. But then I thought, is that really true?

Somewhere, there's a power plant belching something into the atmosphere to power those buses. So can we really say these are zero emissions buses?

It's just an example that, no matter how benign we try to be, our modern technology has some kind of negative impact on the environment.

There was a recent controversy in California about windmill farms. Now, what can be more benign than a windmill? Well, apparently windmills are not so benign to birds, and our California windmills have been decapitating birds by the thousands.

The Audubon Society got involved. Lawsuits were filed, etc etc etc. So now, the most egregious bird killers have been shut down. And they are trying to determine the best places to locate the windmills to spare our feathered friends.

I'm not, in any way, suggesting we return to horse and buggy days. I couldn't stand that. But I make this post to remind everyone that the environment is something we need to worry about. Everything you do has the potential to negatively impact our planet. We need to worry more about it.