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| about 8 a.m. on February 17, 2021: cold dashboard temperature |
Reversing from the garage the car's thermometer on the dashboard showed 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 3.8 Celsius) but within a couple of minutes driving to work the number fell little by little until stopping at negative five degrees (minus 20.5 Celsius). That is cold enough for one's breath to land on eyelashes and freeze almost instantly, producing a decidedly unpleasant sensation.
Somewhere it is written that the USA population comprises something like 5% of the planet's humans, but that those citizens (and the undocumented people, as well) consume about 20 or 25% of the annual energy budget around the world. And of those 5% of Earthlings the wealthiest 10% of the richness pyramid probably account for an outsized part of the fuel consumed and carbon footprint produced each day and cumulatively for each year: luxury services and goods tend to require more energy than items of an ordinary status, or indeed by comparison to the alternative of doing without such luxuries all together.
Therefore, so long as old habits persist for transportation, gift-giving, leisure pursuits, plug-in conveniences, and so on, the disproportionate spoiling of water, air, and habitats will go on until no more remains. Let us hope that enough people see the insanity and injustice; and that peer pressure, government carrots and sticks (incentives and disincentives) can transition the consuming public to think twice before making a purchase, flicking on an electrical switch, or jumping in the car for little or no reason other than boredom or aimlessness. Such a transformed mentality would lead to fewer single-use (disposable) products, fewer one-stop trips (instead combining errands and appointments and commuting), and less landfill discarding of uneaten food or unloved chattels.
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