250,000 All Electric miles on my Nissan LEAFs

LeftieBiker said:

OTOH, the best environmental choice to make - one that has a vastly larger benefit than everything mentioned so far - is to choose to not have children. <snip>

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Agreed. I was somewhere in my teens when I made that decision, and having seen the world's human population increase by more than 150% in my lifetime and knowing that it will more than triple before I'm likely to shuffle off my mortal coil and become an ex-human (and the number finally stabilizes before starting to reduce), I've never regretted it. Or maybe, I'll just be pining for the Fjords. :lol:

I've found that being an Uncle (to younger kids - the older ones just want stuff) fulfills whatever paternal instincts I have. That and there are a couple of cats who think of me as their Dad. Actually, one thinks I'm his Mom, but he's a little slow...

I must say having been in college during the Zero Population movement, I am simply amazed at how many of my friend’s kids are having three and four children. I have to keep my lips firmly pressed together each time I hear of another family addition. I fear I have become an old fogey.

LeftieBiker said:

I've found that being an Uncle (to younger kids - the older ones just want stuff) fulfills whatever paternal instincts I have. That and there are a couple of cats who think of me as their Dad. Actually, one thinks I'm his Mom, but he's a little slow...

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Being a scoutmaster for a dozen years satisfied whatever lingering paternal interest I might have had (very little, if any). : Cats are easy: "Pet me. Feed Me. Let me in/out. Leave me alone." :lol:

Cats who never grew up want your lap, your attention, to be washed by you...big babies, they are.

Also zero interest in children and a somewhat obsessive cat dad.

Of course, we do need children to prop up social security payments to us in our dotage, but that's really the only interest I have in them.

LeftieBiker said:

Cats who never grew up want your lap, your attention, to be washed by you...big babies, they are.

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With the huge advantage that there's no diaper changing, or needing to be walked to take care of business. And they clean up after themselves when done, these last two being their major advantage over dogs IMO. Compared to that, the occasional hairball, ripped/shredded furniture or 'gift' bird/mouse/lizard carcass is small potatoes. However, as the internet isn't exactly short of cat discussions/photos/videos, we should probably stop now. :lol:

GRA said:

LeftieBiker said:

Cats who never grew up want your lap, your attention, to be washed by you...big babies, they are.

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With the huge advantage that there's no diaper changing, or needing to be walked to take care of business. And they clean up after themselves when done, these last two being their major advantage over dogs IMO. Compared to that, the occasional hairball, ripped/shredded furniture or 'gift' bird/mouse/lizard carcass is small potatoes. However, as the internet isn't exactly short of cat discussions/photos/videos, we should probably stop now. :lol:

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Dogs are way better. But this thread is way off topic.

ignoring the cats and dogs, this is a truly inspiring story. thanks SF.

LeftieBiker said:

OTOH, the best environmental choice to make - one that has a vastly larger benefit than everything mentioned so far - is to choose to not have children. As I sit here in my gizmo-laden old house, with my $38k EV parked outside, heating with resistance heat to reduce fuel oil consumption, I at least know that I (and the woman with whom I live) didn't start an ever-multiplying horde of consumers. I have to laugh (to prevent a more angry response) at all the Yuppies and Liberals who think they are making the world a better place by having two or three or four kids to go out there and keep their "environmentalist" dream alive...or more likely, to rebel against their parents hypocrisy by rejecting their beliefs.

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Or we could all just kill ourselves. Wouldn't that have even more "environmental benefit" than simply not having kids since as an added bonus, our dead selves wouldn't be alive consume or to have kids? 2 birds with one stone! :roll:

To the OP, great story!

golfcart said:

LeftieBiker said:

OTOH, the best environmental choice to make - one that has a vastly larger benefit than everything mentioned so far - is to choose to not have children. As I sit here in my gizmo-laden old house, with my $38k EV parked outside, heating with resistance heat to reduce fuel oil consumption, I at least know that I (and the woman with whom I live) didn't start an ever-multiplying horde of consumers. I have to laugh (to prevent a more angry response) at all the Yuppies and Liberals who think they are making the world a better place by having two or three or four kids to go out there and keep their "environmentalist" dream alive...or more likely, to rebel against their parents hypocrisy by rejecting their beliefs.

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Or we could all just kill ourselves. Wouldn't that have even more "environmental benefit" than simply not having kids since as an added bonus, our dead selves wouldn't be alive consume or to have kids? 2 birds with one stone! :roll:

To the OP, great story!

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Right? Isn't the whole point to preserve the earth's ability to support future generations? I mean if we literally had no kids, we would be the last generation. Why not drain the earth of its capacity to support life if it lets us live extravagantly? Fortunately not everyone sees things as Leftie does. He represents a loud (and angry) minority.

GetOffYourGas said:

Right? Isn't the whole point to preserve the earth's ability to support future generations? I mean if we literally had no kids, we would be the last generation. Why not drain the earth of its capacity to support life if it lets us live extravagantly? Fortunately not everyone sees things as Leftie does. He represents a loud (and angry) minority.

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No need to live extravagantly but not reproducing is a bit extreme and I'm not gonna shame people for having kids. I also assume the OP isn't out joyriding for the sake of more EV miles. I assume that the OP is in a situation where driving those miles is necessary or at least prudent and that those miles would have otherwise been driven with an ICE vehicle that would have polluted more than the leaf did. So big picture I'm glad the OP did all of those miles in the Leaf if they needed to do those miles.

I suppose we all have to draw our line in the sand somewhere and demean anyone on the wrong side of that line... it is the internet after all. LOL

GetOffYourGas said:

Right? Isn't the whole point to preserve the earth's ability to support future generations? I mean if we literally had no kids, we would be the last generation. Why not drain the earth of its capacity to support life if it lets us live extravagantly? Fortunately not everyone sees things as Leftie does. He represents a loud (and angry) minority.

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+100

GetOffYourGas said:

golfcart said:

LeftieBiker said:

OTOH, the best environmental choice to make - one that has a vastly larger benefit than everything mentioned so far - is to choose to not have children. As I sit here in my gizmo-laden old house, with my $38k EV parked outside, heating with resistance heat to reduce fuel oil consumption, I at least know that I (and the woman with whom I live) didn't start an ever-multiplying horde of consumers. I have to laugh (to prevent a more angry response) at all the Yuppies and Liberals who think they are making the world a better place by having two or three or four kids to go out there and keep their "environmentalist" dream alive...or more likely, to rebel against their parents hypocrisy by rejecting their beliefs.

Click to expand...

Or we could all just kill ourselves. Wouldn't that have even more "environmental benefit" than simply not having kids since as an added bonus, our dead selves wouldn't be alive consume or to have kids? 2 birds with one stone! :roll:

To the OP, great story!

Click to expand...

Right? Isn't the whole point to preserve the earth's ability to support future generations? I mean if we literally had no kids, we would be the last generation. Why not drain the earth of its capacity to support life if it lets us live extravagantly? Fortunately not everyone sees things as Leftie does. He represents a loud (and angry) minority.

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So I guess we count you as another vote for "Save the planet by having more kids to talk about saving it." Sure, that will work. And the gratuitous strawman argument is also great.

LeftieBiker said:

So I guess we count you as another vote for "Save the planet by having more kids to talk about saving it." Sure, that will work. And the gratuitous strawman argument is also great.

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I can't speak for GetOffYourGas but I'm optimistic that we can find solutions allowing for both the survival of the planet and the continuation of our species.

I realize that there is a lot of "virtue signaling" environmentalism from well off people who say the right things and then do things that seem in conflict with the values they espouse. That is annoying, I agree, but let's try to see the forest for the trees. Most advanced economies are at replacement level or less already. If u want a kid or two I think it's fine to have them. If you don't... that's fine too.

Some people seem to have gotten the idea that I'm promoting the idea that everyone on the planet immediately stop having children. I'm not. I'm suggesting that people who care about the environment ideally stop having children, and in particular that they immediately STOP having more than one or two - under the ridiculous delusion that the more eco-warriors they breed, the better off the planet will get. First, adopting existing children can accomplish that lofty (if unsupported by reality) goal. Second, I think that there is some sort of subconscious defense mechanism that overrides the forebrain when it comes to talking about NOT breeding: suddenly the person who has just suggested a few vasectomies and tubal ligations is trying to STOP EVERYONE FROM HAVING ANY CHILDREN, THUS ENDING HUMANITY IN ONE GENERATION!!!

Get real, folks, and stop thinking with your gametes.

LeftieBiker said:

STOP EVERYONE FROM HAVING ANY CHILDREN, THUS ENDING HUMANITY IN ONE GENERATION!!!

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Lol sometimes I can't resist a good troll.

LeftieBiker said:

GetOffYourGas said:

golfcart said:

Or we could all just kill ourselves. Wouldn't that have even more "environmental benefit" than simply not having kids since as an added bonus, our dead selves wouldn't be alive consume or to have kids? 2 birds with one stone! :roll:

To the OP, great story!

Click to expand...

Right? Isn't the whole point to preserve the earth's ability to support future generations? I mean if we literally had no kids, we would be the last generation. Why not drain the earth of its capacity to support life if it lets us live extravagantly? Fortunately not everyone sees things as Leftie does. He represents a loud (and angry) minority.

Click to expand...

So I guess we count you as another vote for "Save the planet by having more kids to talk about saving it." Sure, that will work. And the gratuitous strawman argument is also great.

Click to expand...

No strawman. Reductio ad absurdum.

Emphasis on the absurdum. So you want to help the planet, huh? You want us to all stop using toilet paper, huh? Well, no! I reject your crazy argument (which I made for you).

Can anyone else agree that the last few pages have done nothing to further the accomplishments of Steve and his remarkable 250000 ev miles.
Enough gentleman!