Infinite Monkeys"Dear God, NOOOOOO!" That's what I thought when I saw this headline on Drudge: GREEN '24': Jack Bauer's Next Mission -- Fighting Global Warming...
Fortunately, the headline is a little misleading. The mortal superhero of 24, the defender of liberty and killer of terrorists, will not be donning the Wonderman suit in season seven. Instead, the producers of "24" will be shooting for the goal of producing a "carbon neutral" show next season.
That would seem quite the challenge, even for CTU's crack team, considering the show is filming a lot of stuff overseas (airplane rides), uses parades of gas-guzzing SUVs that stream up into the hills of California, is fond of blowing stuff up, etc. "24" has got to be one of the most energy-guzzling and expensive shows on television.
But if eating organic celery and drinking "sustainable" coffee makes the cast and crew feel better, who's to argue. It looks like, however, that they are falling prey to the "carbon offset" scam. Sigh.
Posted by Dr. Zaius at August 4, 2007 11:02 AMHere's a little territory we can share, Dr. Z. I've been meaning to blog about "carbon offsets" because even on the surface, they seemed like a hinkey idea to me. A typical progressive conscience-soothing gesture. And hypocritical, at that. Wouldn't the same progressives that embrace carbon offsets scoff at logging proponents who point out that the logging industry plants more new forests than they cut down?
And if carbon production itself is a bad thing, and they have the money to buy "green" services, wouldn't the truly moral action be to buy windmills AND refrain from generating the carbon in the first place? And how many of the "carbon offset" energy sources wouldn't have been otherwise built through other efforts?
To use an extreme (and, yes, absurd) example, does it make it okay to murder someone as long as you pay some teenager to have a baby and give it up for adoption instead of aborting it? Your action then becomes "population neutral" right?
As Forrest Gump would say, "Sometimes people do things that just don't make no sense."
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at August 4, 2007 12:10 PMWhy can’t this global warming insanity be left to Laurie David and her mercury-filled light bubs? Why do our action shows have to be used for Al Gore’s propaganda? Now we all get to be brainwashed into thinking that by “24” and other shows being carbon-neutral, they are going to change the temperature of the Planet.
In reality, they are simply purchasing carbon credits from people like Al Gore, and in time, Investment Banks who are bewildered that Al Gore has legitimized this scam. There are going to make a killing of everyone’s guilt; environmentalism is a religion.
You can read my take on this matter at Copious Dissent - Your Daily Dose of Liberty
Posted by: Devil's Advocate at August 4, 2007 05:33 PMA happy day, indeed, Robb. A moment of peace and agreement.
The absurd thing about living a "carbon neutral" lifestyle is that only the absurdly rich (and morally idiotic) can live it. The poor schlub who has to drive an hour and a half to work in his '97 Cavalier (affording a new hybrid is out of the question) can't afford to pay $200 a month to Al Gore's hedge fund. Brad Pitt? He leaves more than that in tips for his housekeeper.
I'd LOVE to hear someone note that the "evil" timber industry is, in fact, more than "neutral" in the game. Of course, it only makes sense because if you cut down all the trees and don't replenish them, Paul Bunyan's out of business.
Of course, liberals -- especially green nuts -- have never distinguished themselves with mastery of logic.
Posted by: Dr. Zaius at August 4, 2007 05:37 PM