Random Thoughts of a Gas Guzzler

I've been joking around lately that if I don't recycle, then Al Gore comes to haunt me in my dreams. You know what they say, be careful what you say in jest, lest it come true.

I have been trying to get my mother to recycle. She doesn't like to do it because it's "messy," which really fits in with Al Gore's film title An Inconvenient Truth. I have to admit that until seeing that film, I thought of recycling as kind of a fad (and I consider myself occasionally to be an intelligent person) and had the impression that it didn't really help anything that much. But I suppose we grow older and wiser. My mother is now being very good about the recycling, as long as I promise to take it before it becomes overwhelming. (I used some very ugly tactics to bring her over to the green side, of which I should be ashamed, such as telling her she might as well vote Republican - I know, that was harsh, but I did it for the lush, green earth).

This morning I was driving to school and thinking about all sorts of environmental things. I don't remember my dreams last night, but I woke up thinking about Al Gore, so I think he was in them again. He likes to hang out there and chastise me. I thought about how difficult it is to be a good greenie. I am trying to eat organic foods and I'm trying to recycle as much as I can, but I still have to drive over an hour each day to get to work/school. I drive a small VW, so at least it's getting good milage, but according to Al Gore's website(http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/#), it still puts me above average on energy consumption. I thought, on my drive to school, about the fact that I try: I've recycled for the past three years, I drive a small car, and I try to eat locally and organic, and I quit smoking. What about people who don't even care at all? How would they fare on Al Gore's calculator? Most people don't think about their environmental footprint at all. I'm not trying to say that I'm better than them because I do, I'm really just thinking about our society and its priorities. What are people supposed to think when their president tells them it's patriotic to buy a Hummer? Then you have the car companies, who instead of concentrating on making small, economic cars are building enormous hybrid SUVs and then patting themselves on the back because these behemoths get the same milage as a large car. No one is preaching sacrifice. No one is requiring it. Shouldn't someone be setting an example?

It seems it's a long and lonely road for Al Gore.