The Grass is Always Greener…

I’m up in Vermont, the Green Mountain State – which is certainly living up to its name – thinking about things green. I’ve thumbing though a copy of last Sunday’s magazine section on ecologically appropriate design, getting ideas for my “dream” house. Al Gore is explaining why he believes we humans don’t view global warming with alarm. If you can get through his intricate though at times convoluted thought processes, it boils down to this: we aren’t hard-wired to fear what we can’t see or feel or touch. Nor can we bring ourselves to try and tackle what we perceive as intangible, although I understand if you visit Alaska and see those disappearing glaciers and barren tundra, you get the picture. The front-page article in yesterday’s USA Today warned about “a runaway-train acceleration of industrial carbon dioxide emissions;” this morning we’re focused on who won “Dancing With the Stars” (Apollo). The thing is, we always feel helpless in the face of large-scale problems or disasters, yet there are all sorts of small and medium-sized steps we can take; look at California. Which is why I’m getting my ideas for my “dream” house from a series of articles on eco-design. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

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