"Java Jive" wrote in message
...

Exactly, so avoiding wasting it is a good thing environmentally. It
really is as simple as that.

Sorry, JJ, but I still don't think you understand my argument.

The point is that the savings are much less than the green pundits claim.
Yes, there are savings, and any savings are worthwhile. We don't differ
there.

But by exaggerating the effectiveness of these savings, we mislead the
public into doing the wrong things, and governments into making the wrong
policies.

Government policies are made based upon the claimed or expected benefits.
If they work from bad information, they produce bad policies. I firmly
believe that many environmental policies are bad because they are based on
bad science, or on powerful lobbying, not on good science and solid facts.

Have you heard of Pareto analysis? To over-simplify, you find out what the
big contributors are, and tackle them first, thus making a big difference
early on. If you want to make a big difference you need to tackle the big
stuff. My major concern is that the public now thinks they can save the
planet by using CFLs and switching their telly off at the wall.

It simply isn't true. To save the planet (IF you accept the current
scientific position on anthropogenic global warming) the public will need to
fundamentally alter almost every aspect of their lifestyle, not fart about
switching things off at the wall.

We both agree that every little helps. But when a government bases its
policies on bad science or loud lobbying, then we get bad policies.

Did you know that the figure used by the UK government in the car scrappage
white paper for the CO2 impact of manufacturing a new car is ONE TENTH that
claimed by Ford? If Ford are correct, and making a new car actually
generates ten times as much CO2 as the government believes, then the car
scrappage scheme would be an environmental faux pas. It would be MUCH
better to encourage people to keep their old cars, even though they produce
more CO2 per km.

See what I mean? Bad science and loud lobbying lead to bad policies, and
bad policies lead to us all doing the wrong things to save the planet.

THAT is my main concern.

SteveT