From time to time, the folks on the Right realize that we progressives are right about something.
In order to combat what must clearly be a major case of cognitive dissonance that follows their realization, they have to find fault with us in some other way.
For example, consider the specious analysis promoted by Michelle Malkin that liberals aren't as charitable as conservatives. (Note also the Right's hefty promotion of "Who Really Cares?", Prof. Arthur Brooks' book detailing his surprising research results about charitable donations.)
Their point: Okay, okay! Caring for the poor and weak is a good thing. But we do it better than you do! Nyah nyah!
Yeah, right.
And now we're seeing it on the energy and environment front: Conservatives have rediscovered conservation... and some are claiming the high ground.
In this morning's Open Science Thread, Darksyde pointed out that Instapundit Glenn Reynolds had been touting how "his" community of conservative readers was doing more to save energy than the Kossak community.
Reynold's evidence? He has started a user group on One Billion Bulbs, a site dedicated to tracking people's conversion of ordinary incandescent bulbs to energy- and environment-saving compact fluorescents (CFLs). DailyKos had not.
The Instapundit group already had almost 900 members, whose CFL switching actions were going to save 700 tons of CO2 each year.
The Kossak community was doing doodly squat. At least, according to Reynold's metric.
Well doodly on that! I believe that we Kossaks are not only talking the talk when it comes to the environment, but also walking the walk. (Real walking... not just riding in an SUV and saying that we're actually walking.)
So this morning I registered myself on the site (free & easy), recorded this past week's CFL conversions at the pat208 household, and, after confirming that there was not already one there, created a Daily Kos group.
UPDATE 1:49p EDT: Great work so far, Kossaks!
Now you can register yourself and join this group, giving the Daily Kos community some public credit for this important aspect of environmental action.
Reynolds himself has already noted DarkSyde's mention of his challenge, and he has now challenged his own Instapundit community to beat Kos. Their membership numbers are climbing already.
If they want to make it a competition and actually do some environmental good for a change, by all means! But let's show the conservatives who else is taking action, has always been taking action, on the environment.
About CFLs
CFLs use 60% less energy than standard bulbs. According to Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth site:
This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, we’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds! You can purchase CFLs online from the Energy Federation.
You can learn more about compact fluorescents at Wikipediaand on the One Billion Bulbs site.
Choosing a CFL
The variety and features offered in CFLs is increasing weekly. You can read reviews of various brands and types in Popular Mechanics, and on the One Billion Bulbs site.
Taking Action
Please consider joining One Billion Bulbs and logging your own CFL conversions. And link your account to Daily Kos, so we can demonstrate the power of our community.