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During the last few months as I have been trying to recover at home, I have noticed a shift in advertising. Daytime television is brain numbing enough, but I began to see a pattern developing. Starting in February everything became “green.” It suddenly became politically correct to be “green” or to advocate for it. Earth Day was coming in April. Imagine the ads for household chemicals touting they are eco-friendly because they use methane from the local landfill to power the plant. An automobile plant is “green” because it lies within a wildlife sanctuary. Where is their toxic waste going? Homes are built green because they use technologies that have been around for years. It is now OK, however, to charge astronomical prices to put energy saving devices into new homes and to upgrade old ones. Let's face a few unpleasant facts. We have had the technologies available to us for the reduction of greenhouse gases for a couple of decades. The ability to run automobiles on something other than petroleum products has been in place for a number of years. The excuses have been that to convert to eco-friendly technologies would be “too expensive.” Yes, in some cases the conservation of fuels and recycling of produces is more expensive. But another perennial problem is finally making itself felt: recession. Just about the time it has become politically correct to advocate for some of the more expensive alternatives to manufacturing, we are facing a recession in this country like we have not known for a number of years. Let's hope that political correctness does not give way again to financial priority. Let's hope the cost of food does not have to win out over the cost of energy. Just as we are beginning to see the imperatives of “green” let's not let the equally imperative of food and shelter lose out again.
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