Per the site, the Story of Stuff video is a “20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.”

Good watch and no doubt sheds light on some of our own idiosyncrasies that has become the norm.

Happy Earth Day!

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There is a debate if winning the Nobel will push Gore into the 2008 presidential race. Only time can tell!

Steve: It has been mentioned that NASA is not spending as much money as it could to study climate change (global warming) from space. Are you concerned about global warming?

Michael: I’m aware that global warming exists. I understand that the bulk of scientific evidence accumulated supports the claim that we’ve had about a one degree centigrade rise in temperature over the last century to within an accuracy of 20 percent. I’m also aware of recent findings that appear to have nailed down, pretty well nailed down the conclusion that much of that is manmade. Whether that is a longterm concern or not, I can’t say.

Steve: Do you have any doubt that this is a problem that mankind has to wrestle with?

Michael: I have no doubt that, a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with. To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth’s climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn’t change. First of all, I don’t think it’s within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown. And second of all, I guess I would ask which human beings “where and when” are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that’s a rather arrogant position for people to take.

Steve: Is that thinking that informs you as you put together the budget? That something is happening, that it’s worth studying, but you’re not sure that you want to be battling it as an army might battle an enemy?

Michael: Nowhere in NASA’s authorization, which of course governs what we do, is there anything at all telling us that we should take actions to affect climate change in either one way or another. We study global climate change, that is in our authorization, we think we do it rather well. I’m proud of that, but NASA is not an agency chartered to, quote, battle climate change.

1) The US EPA Personal Emissions Calculator:

This test estimates the household greenhouse gas emissions resulting from household energy use and waste disposal and takes a good 20 minutes to complete, so get comfy and get started.

2) The Ecological Footprint Quiz:

This actually calculates the number of Planet Earth it’ll take to support you! Takes about 5 minutes.

3) An Inconvenient Truth Carbon Calculator:

The fastest of the three, but I believe the calculator is less accurate as it has less variable to work from. I changed just one parameter in the test (can’t tell you which) and it took me from way below average to close to average, which does not make sense. But overall, a very lightweight calculator nonetheless!

For a suburbanite, my impact was below average for most parts. Let us know how you fared.

This reminds me of a scene from “The Inconvenient Truth” where Gore points to a 90′s poster that has the earth on one scale of the balance and gold bullions on the other. China now gets the pick, and if any of them have at least half an ounce gray matter up there, they will chose a policy unlike that of our beloved Bush’s administration!