Sign of the times

The girls and I were in a thrift store a few weeks ago. As usual, I checked the glass aisles for any spare kerosene lamp chimneys. While doing so I spotted this bin, which stopped me in my tracks.

So now there's a market for used incandescent light bulbs. Hmmm, how much longer before there's a black market for them?

The environmental cost of being "green"

Here's a sobering thought: all those CFL's and solar panels the greenies would love for us to adopt? (In the case of light bulbs, forcing us to adopt...)



Well, they're not as environmentally-friendly as they'd like us to believe. With an upcoming ban on incandescent light bulbs looming in 2012, it's long concerned me that most CFL's are produced in China (which also necessitates shipping the damned things halfway around the globe! Helloooo? Tankers?).

I've griped about banning incandescents before. But this article illuminates the nasty work and environment poisoning necessary to extract rare earths used in CFL's, solar panels, wind turbines, hybrid vehicles, and an entire host of other modern conveniences such as digital cameras, computers, etc.

After reading this article, I find it sickeningly amusing how the dimwit greenies in Seattle will brag about their low ecological footprint because they use "green" technology. Try bragging after reading the link.

China has us by the balls on the issue of rare earths, folks. Make no mistake.