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This is the Gaian People’s Republic of Boulder. Welcome.

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  February 20th, 2010 at 07:46 AM  | 

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The city of Boulder, CO is superlative in many ways: It is one of the most educated, most affluent, most liberal and most environmentally conscious cities around. According to an article in a recent Wall Street Journal, though, Boulder is having a tough time converting its citizens’ tree-hugging attitudes into meaningful actions.

Thus exposed is a fundamental aspect of human nature. Whatever we may say we like, People Hate Change. It’s one thing to adopt a self-flattering pose to impress a pollster or to cop a public image, but quite another voluntarily to sacrifice money, time or convenience for a nebulous collective benefit.

Even Boulder Finds It Isn’t Easy Going Green

“What we’ve found is that for the vast majority of people, it’s exceedingly difficult to get them to do much of anything,” says Kevin Doran, a senior research fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder. …

Take George Karakehian. He considers himself quite green: He drives a hybrid, recycles, uses energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. But he refuses to practice the most basic of conservation measures: Shutting the doors to his downtown art gallery when his heating or air conditioning is running.

Mr. Karakehian knows he’s wasting energy. He doesn’t care.

“I’m old-school,” Mr. Karakehian says. “I’ve always been taught that an open door is the way to invite people in.”

Going green is kind of like public transit – people say they’re all for it, when in reality, they’re all for it — for the other guy.

Boulder subsidizes residential energy audits which cost homeowners $200, but even at that price there have been few takers. The city has programs to replace incandescent bulbs with curly, mercury-laden compact fluorescent bulbs, and has swapped out 3,700 strings of incandescent Christmas lights with LED counterparts.

Still, the public has been slow to change its energy use habits in meaningful ways.

But, never fear, as long as there’s a megalomaniacal progressive politician in power.

City officials are frustrated—and contemplating more forceful steps.

The City Council will soon consider mandating energy-efficiency upgrades to many apartments and businesses. The proposals under review would be among the most aggressive in the nation, requiring up to $4,000 a rental unit in new appliances, windows and other improvements. Owners of commercial property could face far larger tabs.

Which has spawned, in turn, a “conservative” backlash:

[T]here are signs Boulder’s efforts are starting to lose favor. Voters county-wide last fall rejected a measure that would have doubled a public fund set up to give homeowners low-interest loans for efficiency upgrades, such as a new furnace.

In the same November election, city voters elected to the council several newcomers eager to moderate Boulder’s aggressive environmentalism.

Among the newly elected: Mr. Karakehian, the gallery owner who insists on keeping his front door open. He is concerned about the city mandating conservation and says his constituents agree.

See also last week’s entry, This is the Gaian Worker’s Paradise of Cambridge. Welcome..

Cross-posted at VladEnBlog.

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COMMENTS

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  • renny

    Display fixtures where you can see the lightbulbs do not lend themselves to the Avatar-designed mercury bulbs. No one but an alien terrestrial wants to see them. People who actually need light to read and perform tasks are disadvantaged by curly lights. And governments should be smarter and less intrusive and not legislating what lightbulbs individuals use. Better products will attact buyers without government mandates. And, oh, I have to go flush that low-water toilet for the third time, because it doesn’t flush what it’s supposed to.

    • http://www.dcworksforus.com Kenny Solomon

      No.
      Never.
      Sorry.
      Homey don’t play that.

      Along with ‘those other things’, I have a house full of still-in-the-box lamps and rooms full of incandescent bulbs.

      It’s a pretty good bet that I’ll not need to purchase any illumination material going forward.

      Besides…… I will not allow my home to become an EPA hazardous waste cleanup site………

      Unless they want to SuperFund me. ;)

      • 4life

        in my closet. I started getting strange looks with the outfits I chose in the dim light, not to mention the eyestrain, and the few second delay in the arrival of the dim light disturbed my karma. I immediately bought a GIANT box of the old kind. And now no longer fear a nomination to What Not to Wear.

        • Raven

          Figured they’d save me money in not buying bulbs and in energy use.

          Not so much.

          Every time you turn them on or off, you reduce their effective lifespan. Lights in my rooms turn on and off several times per day. So much so that they last no longer than Incandescents. I went back to the cheaper incandescents. They save me money. About $4 per bulb over their lifespans.

      • mriggio

        a) you don’t really need much in the way of light in that location and/or b) the fixture is in a place where bulb replacement is difficult.

        In the places where I need good, bright light, as for reading, I love the halogen incandescent bulbs. At 100 watts, they give nice white light that’s perfect for paperwork, or in Mrs. mriggio’s case, quilting. But they are becoming more difficult to find in my neighborhood…

        • 6eorge Jetson

          get banned in 2011, if memory serves. I’ll have to go stock up on a stash of clean, mercury-free incandescent bulbs.

          • Menlo

            Personally, those things blind me. 60 is even a bit much, and I find 40 just right. I think those won’t be gone until 2014 or 2015.

            I’ve seen lower-wattage incandescent bulbs that are supposed to be just as bright, but I don’t know if they work as well or how long they will continue.

            I would think there will always be SOME alternatives to those Chinese-made dangers that would serve as palatable substitutes. When it comes to lighting, one size, type, or model cannot fit all. Regardless, I’ve never used one, and I never will. I’ll switch to candles if I must.

            I don’t put all the blame on the government though given that the biggest bulb manufacturers lobbied for or supported the ban.

        • http://itsaboutfreedom.proboards.com Conservative Phantom

          a difficult to change bulb because they do last longer. A lot longer. And I hate changing a bulb that requires a ladder.

          And the light color and brightness has improved on the things over the years. Still nowhere near as good as incancesdents but not too bad. And I haven’t had one break so mercury hasn’t been an issue…yet.

          That said, I have been buying an extra box of 40,60,75 and 100 watt incandescent bulbs for quite a while now so that I will have no concerns over just what kind of bulb I can use at my discretion.

          What I would really like is something better. I want good quality light that’s mercury-free, lasts for years with low heat output and low initial cost. LED’s are supposed to offer this someday. Until then I just want to be able to choose whatever is right for me in whatever situation I find myself without anyone mandating something else.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    I get a chuckle out of it every time I’m taking my groceries home on foot, without using a plastic bag.

    • Vladimir

      And I compost because it’s good for the garden, not because I’m compelled to.

      Back in the 60′s, my (now) 85-year old dad was a hippie before anyone everheard of Haight-Ashbury. He was into composting, recycling & organic gardening before it was a movement.

      • Brian Hibbert

        before anyone knew the term. She would save scraps of cloth and old shirts to make into quilts, etc. She’d save jars to reuse for storage or canning. In her day it was described as “thrifty” or “waste not want not”.

        The people who push the pseudo recycling don’t really understand the concept. They’re as likely to generate even more waste or burn more energy to run a recycling truck than they save by the act of “recycling”. But hey, as long as they can pretend…. As long as they can feel superior because they’re “saving the planet”.

        • redneck_hippie

          in a time when country folk barely or not at all participated in a cash economy. My maternal grandparents had a farm. My grandmother used to tell me proudly all the time when showing off some pretty dinnerware or some other thing she used, “Oh I found that in the ditch.” I never found out where this ditch full of riches was located. Garage sales probably weren’t practical in days when your nearest neighbor was miles and/or hours away. She would collect castoff ribbons from old grave ornaments to make into throw rugs, and sew covers for large tomatoe juice cans and make foot stools. She could grow anything from scratch and even raised canaries in her bedroom. Living through the Kansas dustbowl, my mom tells stories that there were times when they had nothing for dinner but popcorn. She told me her parents said they did not have food because the “hoboes” broke into the cellar and stole their canned goods. Must have been because Barack Obama wasn’t around to stimulate the economy.

          Anyway, some boomers received a traditionalist upbringing, as I did, largely due to the fact that their forbears were traditionalists and/or pioneers. I accumulated a lot of 60s claptrap but threw it off again, thankfully.

      • 4life

        That sound is so soothing. And doesn’t Bush have a much greener home than Gore?

      • dennism

        Vladimir’s mother bought his dad a truckload of cow manure once for a birthday gift. That’s the truth.

        • Vladimir
      • wrench

        My grandparents were the same way – not because it was ‘green’ but it saved green. I remember seeing my grandmother peeling veggies and carefully saving all the peels to a/ Give to the Chickens b/ Put on the compost pile.

        I find it amusing that my peers and I are going backwards to recycling/repairing/composting/Gardening and it seems very modern. I am a conservative and I am ‘green’!

        The boomers have a lot to answer, selfish, greedy entitlement junkies. I am all growed up and I still recent my parents :) (A little)

        • Achance

          No “Boomer” was born when the New Deal was enacted. Only a few of the very oldest Boomers and only in some states could vote when the Great Society entitlement programs were enacted. The first national election that the bulk of Boomers could vote in sent Nixon to the White House. Talk to your grandparents and their parents about entitlement programs.

        • Vegas_Rick

          I was born in 1954. I think that makes me a boomer and I have never believed in ANY entitlement programs. Watch your tongue!

          • RedBeard

            I’m a Boomer and a conservative who opposes entitlements.

            My sons are conservatives who oppose entitlements.

            My parents were conservatives who opposed entitlements.

            My grandparents were anti-New Deal folks who opposed entitlements.

            My great-grandparents didn’t have access to entitlements, didn’t want any, and didn’t need anything but their own initiative and to be left alone.

      • gigi36b

        of the generation born during the depression. The original and best reduce/reuse/recylers were around in the 40′s and 50′s. How many have grandparents/great grandparents who gag at our waste?

        Today’s “sexy green” RRRers are so lame in comparison. It’s nothing more than a fad if you ask me. There is no way you are going to train the most consumptive poeple to have ever lived on the planet to forgo anything beyond the window dressing of our lives.

        I say send some of those that want to impose sexy green window dressing on us to India, where it’s all grungy green without exception. In no time they’ll be crying for the many creature comforts we all know and love. Send the Hollyweird greeners first. Make a reality show out of it.

        • Michael Dugas

          My granny saved EVERYTHING!! Little pieces of soap she’d save and
          press them into new “multicolored” bars. Every rag, every jar had a purpose! God I miss her! She taught me to can/preserve fruits and veggies and make jams and jellies. Oh and lets not forget the bacon grease….always a glass jar of saved pig fat on the back of the stove when she cooked.
          The result of all of that experience is that even today I “put up” tomato’s and peaches and I make pickles and pickle veggies. My wife used to think I was nuts but she loves the stuff now and lends a hand!

  • Brian Hibbert

    to make people do the things that are “for their own good”.

    If some of the self identified liberals that were posting here the other day are still here….. this is a prime example of what modern liberal ideology always results in.

    • Brian Hibbert
      • DefendUSA

        If you ask a liberal with expendable income why he/she would not willingly pay for another person’s health care, the answer is thus: “I want all people to have access and the government must do it. ”

        As long as they are forced to do it, they will not complain. But ask them and they will tell you it is not their problem.

        The platitudes are more important than the actual deed or actual concern.

  • lockedandloaded

    Who has done more to preserve wildlife habitat than any other group? Hunters and fishermen, of course.

    Mercury in the bulbs – and fluorescent light? No thanks. We’re doing what you might call “taking a step back,” and boy, these kerosene lamps give the house a wonderful, peaceful – even quiet – feel.

    • Raven

      My house has flourescent fixtures, the big ones, as the primary light sources downstairs (installed by the previous owner 30 or 40 years ago). I had the choice of replacing them and redoing ceilings or putting up with the buzz.

      Lo and behold, I was surprised to find big flourescents that don’t buzz. And those actualy DO last years…

  • RedBeard

    That’s the core problem with their agenda.

    True conservation is a noble cause, and is practiced without force or oppression by people who really do care. As lockedandloaded indicates, every individual hunter or fisherman has quietly and effectively done more for the environment than all the screaming totalitarian greenies put together.

    Ask a mouthy leftie greenie how much money he has spent on preserving wetlands. Then ask him how much Ducks Unlimited has done for the cause. He either can’t or won’t answer you.

  • conservnut

    to have the largest carbon footprint in the world! In the winter I set my thermostat to 72, in the summer 68, drive an SUV and a F150 pickup, my riding lawnmower is so huge I have trouble turning it around in my small yard. I use large wattage incandescent light bulbs throughout my house and leave them on much of the time.

    An yet, for all my efforts, I find that I am far behind Al Gore in my carbon spewing efforts. :(

  • spainishirish

    I bet most of us on the Right live closer to what leftists claim is an ideal, pure, “green” lifestyle but we don’t think it should be mentioned let alone legislated. :Left-wingers always run toward the newest bright and shiny thing and demand everyone else do so. Unforntunely for humanity, that lack of principle and discernment in the extreme led to the killing fields of Europe and Asia under fascists and communists. But/for the brakes democracy throws on such insanity, they would do so again here and around the world.

    The most interesting part of this blog is the city council threatening to ride herd on their constituents and losing office. Priceless. And heartening. Their hypocrisy trumps their stated idealism, and as long as they are kept in their little and smug enclaves and don’t have actual power, that’s a good thing.

  • d_lamar

    The green movement is fine for everybody else to pay for. The rules do not apply to progressives.

  • Return to Revolution

    I bought a string of LED Christmas lights a couple years ago, not for environmental reasons. They looked so terrible I threw them in the trash and will never buy them again – at least until its a crime not to.

    Speaking of which, want to be a green socialist but without the Hg of CFLs? Never fear, welcome to the LED floodlight. At just over $1/watt, you can light your house on less than 2 months pay!

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TLUURC/ref=asc_df_B001TLUURC1036267?smid=A23AUXUEVS3TT3&tag=yahoo-tools-mp01-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001TLUURC

    • Raven

      Good, bright light with the current ones. No mercury. Actually cheaper than CFLs most of the time. Prettier than CFLs when exposed to view. More options in colour, brightness, design. Less energy use. Last MUCH longer. Tougher (harder to break or crack).

      Oh yes. LEDs are good things.

      • Return to Revolution

        I linked to is a good light and will last a long time. Its just that its…. $50 – and you have to be careful not to damage or break them at that cost.

        As for the Christmas lights, I don’t like them because they are too small to combine the sufficient wavelengths required to make a “warm” light- and thus have the bluish hue.

        When I first learned about the CFL mandate, I thought I would ultimately go LED since over half of the lights in my house are on dimmers. But at that cost, its a serious investment. So yes, LEDs are good products, its just appalling that we may be forced to make such a decision for absolutley no reason at all.

      • acat

        and while it was “greener”, it looked awful.

        Next year, all those LEDs are going outside, and all the elderly traditional lights are going inside.

        Mew

        • lockedandloaded

          This is what I’m talking about with the kerosene lamps in our house. It is “good” light in many ways, when we don’t want the other (incandescent only) lights on. As for Christmas lights, yes, colored incandescents still cannot be beat. What I really miss are the gas lights out in the front yards.

          • Achance

            and a kerosene space heater. Before the hydro came online, power was so unreliable that you simply had to have backup heat and light. I haven’t used them much in the last ten years but they’re still on there shelf out in the garage. Most are the standard kerosene lamp with the flat wick only but two are Alladin brand lamps with the incandescent wick and they put out as much light as electric lights albeit using a good bit of very expensive kerosene while doing so. If you think gasoline and heating oil are expensive, go buy lamp grade kerosene. Last time I bought any for the boat’s heater it was $40 for a five gallon can.

        • bs

          Just a matter of taste. I think the LEDs look a lot better. And they are almost completely cold, with a lot lower risk of fire, etc.

          (Not directed at you personally) Not all green technologies are a bad thing. Some of them are good technologically, economically and/or ecologically. We must be careful to not knee-jerk negatively react to everything that’s advertised as “green”.

    • Achance

      such as boats or remote cabins. They’re also a good solution for difficult to change lights since they last so long. Other than that LEDs with decent color fidelity are so expensive that there’s just no justification for using them.

      I have a Godawful expensive LED all-around/anchor light for my boat since if I’m anchored out in the boat I have to rely on its batteries overnight. I also have some relatively cheap – because they’re very blue – LEDs for the cockpit lights since I leave them on all the time in winter. Those lights are a part of a set I bought as “deck lights” from Home Depot; two went in the boat’s cockpit and the other four serve as the step lights on my back deck at home where I have them on a dusk to dawn sensor and they’re on anytime it is dark.

      At home all the area lighting is flourescent and all the task lighting is halogen or traditional incandescent; I’m stocking up on incandescent GE Reveal vanity lights because NOTHING else will satisfy SWMBO for her bathroom vanity mirror lights. One good way to get rid of Nancy Pelosi would be for her to come to my house and try to make SWMBO put flourescent lights in her vanity mirror.

  • saltlick

    Going green is kind of like public transit – people say they?re all for it, when in reality, they?re all for it ? for the other guy

    I live near a Virginia university town like Boulder. All the serious Eco-Nazis live way out in the hills, while maintaining the indigenous folk should be herded into city limits for efficient public transit.

    The Eco-Nazis’ commuting costs are high, even in a Prius. They’ve previously been able to subsidize their lifestyles via higher taxes raised for the university. Some have begun muttering that it’s time to nationalize the oil industry.

  • Menlo

    I don’t drive, and I’d be willing to pay more (whether in taxes or fares or both) to have it. I’d love to move, but all the places with supposedly decent public transportation are too cold.

  • ColoradoRed

    I was born and raised in Boulder. Still haven’t left. And as someone whose family relies significantly on a couple of rental properties for income, I can tell you that Stephanie barely touched on the craziness. All of the regulations imposed (and being considered) by the city council are ridiculous, and expensive. And the backlash is there. There aren’t many people smart enough to realize that the backlash is directed toward local “progressive” politics, though, so you shouldn’t expect a mass transition to the conservative side any time soon. But it would be sweet…