How far will you go for "green" energy?
 

It's a simple question really. Just what exactly are you willing to give up to get rid of wasteful energy production methods? As a corollary to the previous question what do you think the rest of us are willing to give up? Here are a couple of for instances:

Your local government agency, take your pick, decides its going to build a wind farm over 50-100 acres or so in plain view of your house. They tell you during high winds you might hear the blades cutting the wind. You are also informed that a small number of birds will probably be killed each year by the turbines. Do you welcome them with open arms or protest till the build it elsewhere?

Alternatively, thermoelectric and other power gathering materials advance to the point where it is possible to run your car on the natural radiation from about a pound of naturally radioactive material. All together with the shielding and the power gathering material a 150-200 pound system drives your car for say 60 years with no refueling. There is a small increase in the background radiation you receive but it remains well below the safe level. Basically you'd have to surround yourself with the power systems of these cars for the better part of every second of your life to get to even mildly dangerous levels. Do you throw caution to the wind and drive your nuclear powered car with pride?

Personally I'm not entirely sure that if the government and big business got together tomorrow and announced they'd fully fund such programs as long as most of the nation gave the ok that we as a nation would give the ok. Especially if it meant taking a slight hit in quality of life for even a short time as we tighten the belt as it were for the transition.

I think the best thing we can do for Green energy is have every new house built with the Solar paneling. After a certain amount of time, your house starts pumping energy back into the grid, and it's all clean and 100% renewable.

As for that car, I dont think I'd drive it. I would probably drive an electric one off of the power from the aforementioned house.

I would give up damn near every luxury except my 24 hour internet connection. Do we really need cars? Why not huge works of organized, government-operated non-profitable mass transit systems, with enormous taxes and restrictions placed upon any private transportation left. Increase the price of electricity for those who can afford it, demand that houses be properly insulated to the point where human body heat can keep it warm most of the year and tear down and rebuild any houses that can't be.

Build huge solar panel fields next to where I live, slap them up on my roof, erect windmills, and whatever makes sense and is not unreasonably harmful to the natural surroundings.

Pre-plan urban areas and cities to be practical and make getting from one place easy and fast without excessive needs for transportation.

And so forth.

But I wouldn't drive a radioactive car. Unless they told me it was safe, because I'm a sucker.

If government and big business get together and say they're now totally willing to fund alternative energy programs, as long as those programs are specially tailored to inconvenience, annoy and unsettle the people they are ostensibly meant to serve, I'm going to go ahead and say it's not so much the people saying no to it who are the problem. What is this, the alternative-energy version of security theater and school uniforms?

Well I already use public transport and my own feet for almost everything, the car is just for emergency's and places public transport can't reach(which given my city's pretty good system pretty much means out in the country). We've got solar heated water and mostly use relatively "clean" and cheap natural gas for cooking rather than electricity. So really all I need is for the electricity itself to be green which wind turbines solve.
I've also lived near wind turbines for a time. I liked them, thought they were kind of beautifully surreal. And from the times I spent really close the noise was less annoying than say a neighbour with a loud dog or who played the drums both of which I've lived with. So yeah I'd be happy to have a wind station nearby.
Same with solar and geothermal if they'd be more feasible.

Radiation though is where I draw the line, I'm nervous about microwaves. Just give me a solar/electric/whatever car.

Do radiation levels, for lack of a better term, stack? Because if there's a small increase in background radiation from one car, I just need to look at inner cities and highways to get the shivers. Anyway I agree with Dørmatte about the general cars vs. public transport issue.

I don't actually know what a wind farm sounds like but if it's not too obnoxious, sure. If today's energy companies can stand there and basically say "well screw the climate" I can say "well to hell with that view."

To answer the topic question directly, not that far. If it affects my quality of life, fuck you go build your windmill in africa someplace. I'm all for the government finding alternatives to oil but no way am I letting it affect my wallet.

This isn't exactly true. Time has nothing to do with it, it's consumption. Based on most people's consumption levels, they would at best break even versus what they produce. Anyway, as of right now installing solar panels is expensive as shit and it would take a very long time to make up the cost of installation through cheaper electric bills. What you can do really cheaply with solar power is heat your water.

Who thought up a radiation car? I seriously doubt those will ever hit the road so it doesn't need to be addressed. I mean, cancer and dirty bombs. Yeah that's done.

Wind farms, awesome. Put one in my backyard I don't care. In fact I think they're kinda pretty. It'd be like Don Quixote. Incidentally Alaska would be an awesome place for those.

Id sacrifice public transit, but we dont have public transit where I live, so Im not actually losing out. I would not give up my car though, People take for granted how incredibly convinient it is to be able to drive 10 minutes into town vs a 45 minute walk.

Now, on the wind farm. They arent that loud, but they are distracting, however, dead birds are not pleasnat to be removing from fields.

Id drive the nuclear car though.

I would drive the

NIMBYists annoy me. I'd accept a large number of alternative projects at a minor inconvenience, even if they're cumulative. What I'd like to see happen is the conversion of a lane on major streets from a driving lane to a diamond (Bus/Bike) lane. I'd suffer longer times in traffic in order to make the bus system more efficient. The same goes for light rail; I'd accept a terminal near my house if it meant the system could be built.

A nuclear power plant? Sure. Just be sure to follow the safety precautions. Wind farm? Not so applicable in the city, but again, sure.

There are few things I do that are truly bad for the environment; my computer is my vice. This baby guzzles electricity, sadly. I'd gladly give up my other habits if it would produce results on a much greater scale, however (ie eating at restaurants, eating food with a large carbon footprint, etc).

BTW: LoJ, public transit would be something you sacrifice for, not something you'd give up. Public transit is a green initiative. A better comparison would be: would you give up your car for a dedicated bus/light rail link to Bird's Hill?

I would gladly give up my car for a decent public transportation around here. The only thing we have is buses that don't run very late, or to all parts of the city. They also tend to be late/early getting to their stops, meaning they aren't very reliable when you have to be at work in an hour. I've been walking a fair distance to school lately and I gotta say, I enjoy it. Not having to worry about finding a parking space that I won't get a ticket for would be awesome too.

The wind farm, yes. I don't mind a little background noise, as long as its not like a jet engine or something.

The car? No. Too dangerous, considering how many wrecks there are. And even if scientists assure me its safe levels, I'm not sure I trust it.