From David Freddoso :

Why do I live like this? It’s really just because I’m cheap as hell and way too busy to care about things like “being comfortable.”

I pretty much fall into the same category. Despite my ownership of a "Pave the Whales" T-shirt, I probably have a much lower "environmental impact" than many self-proclaimed "environmentalists." I live in a modest 800 sq ft 2-bedroom apartment and don't crank up the heat or AC very much. I own a fairly fuel-efficient car ('03 Toyota Corolla) and have a very short (2-mile) commute. I replaced all the bulbs I could with compact fluorescents just after moving in. I don't have a giant TV, and it's usually off: I only use it to watch movies from Netflix. My computer burns about 170W, including monitors and everything, but it's usually in standby. I don't buy much stuff and generally don't spend much money: the stuff I do buy is mostly the basic life essentials from Costco and Walmart. I don't eat out much, and for health reasons I generally cook my own meals rather than eating packaged/processed foods; I reheat the leftovers for the next few days, so nothing goes to waste.

Now, do I give a flying frick about the environment? Not really. I'm just cheap, and I happen to think that a lot of the stuff that people buy isn't really that important -- people seeking status (keeping up with the Joneses, impressing the opposite sex, conforming to social norms, etc.) rather than genuine fulfillment (doing stuff that *you* like and *you* enjoy, not because you think someone else will like you for it). Now, if I happened to obtain genuine fulfillment from driving a stretch Hummer limo all across the country, rest assured, the environment would be the last thing on my mind. It's just that I'd rather, say, play the piano than drive a Hummer from here to Saskatchewan and back. Not that I have anything against Saskatchewan...

The Prius infuriates me. It's only modestly more fuel-efficient than comparable non-hybrid cars, and it's so obviously a status symbol -- how else to explain the success of the Prius as compared to the failure of the hybrid Honda Civic? Could it be that the Prius is popular because it *looks* unique, so that everyone *knows* that you're making a "green" statement, rather than because it's fuel-efficient? Somehow I suspect that the sales of the Prius would be many times lower if it looked exactly like my Corolla. Anyway, if you *really* care about the environment, then maybe you should move from your 4000 sq ft house 30 miles from where you work to a more modest 1500 sq ft place a little more nearby.

In the end, if people want to spend money on status symbols like the Prius to try to impress each other, though, big whoop. It doesn't impress me, I don't care what other people think, and it's not really any worse than people spending money on a Porsche or BMW. What gets me is when those same people want to tell *me* how to live *my* life. Sorry, Al Gore, but if you want to call global warming a "moral issue", clean up your own act first. Don't give me this garbage about "carbon credits." Instead, get back to me when your electricity bill is under $50 a month. Heck, even under $100 a month.