Cancel the Olympics in view of global warming?

I don't think cancelling Olympics is a good idea. Actually, it is silly. Then you should cancel flying for pleasure all together. I am all for saving the environment and 'anti global warming', but this is just over the top. Do these people protest over vacationing in other countries and war planes? These contribute more than people flying over to see Olympics. Imagine being an athlete from Kenya who has trained her whole life for this event and then it gets cancelled! What is next, cancelling the Nobel prize ceremony!?

May be we should cancel Spring Break in US in order to save Olympics... any volunteers for that campaign?? :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Feb 19 2007, 12:44 PM) [snapback]392926[/snapback]</div>

But the real question is: Will most Olympics attendees make an extra trip to see the games, or will they choose the Olympics instead of another trip, i.e. making the Olympics the vacation they otherwise would have taken somewhere else?

I support terminating the Olympics because of the decidedly nationalist and commercialist quality the games have taken on. The Olympics were supposed to be "amateur" in order to exclude the lower classes from participating, so everyone makes money off them except the athletes (who can get rich by prostituting their fame to advertising if they win a gold medal, but can make no money otherwise). The Olympics were supposed to be about international cooperation, but instead it's become competition and international one-upmanship, all about medal counting.

It's time to quit the Olympics. But not because of travel. If travel is a concern due to the carbon cycle, then all travel should be curtailed, not merely international gatherings. In fact, non-competitive international gatherings should be encouraged, to foster understanding (a stated but ignored goal of the Olympics).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Michgal007 @ Feb 19 2007, 03:55 PM) [snapback]392939[/snapback]</div>

They could get there by boat - maybe even a sail boat :lol: Pass a law that you must sail to London to compete!

I would cancel algores private jet and his suvs and sew his trap shut - imagine how much cooler the planet would be if we did that.

I agree about cancelling the Nobel Prizes - they have become too politicized anyway. algore for the Peace Prize Jeez - almost like the Dixie Chicks winning album of the year - oops.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Feb 19 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]392926[/snapback]</div>

Maybe we will already all be dead from the coming global warming catastrophe. I wonder what Al Gore will have to say on the Olympics. I watched the "An Inconvenient Truth" for the third time over the weekend and if he is right isn't it already too late? I mean that sincerely, it will take centuries to reverse the damage. The United States could stop producing carbon tomorrow and wouldn't China and India more than make up for it in the future? I read somewhere that China and India plan on building an astounding number of coal plants in the coming years.

 

Maybe global warming is more serious than our government allows us to think it is. European countries are taking serious measures but the good ole u.s. isn't doing shiat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(malorn @ Feb 19 2007, 10:35 PM) [snapback]393089[/snapback]</div>

So does that mean that we shouldn't even try? The US is still the #1 polluter in the world and no one comes near us if you measure pollution / population. We can also influence China and India if we really wanted to through trade agreements or technology transfers.

I don't think that we should cancel the Olympics but I do think that we should keep them in the same place.. Let the summer games stay in Greece. It is crazy to build huge stadium complex for a one time event and then tear them down. If you are worried about the climate effects of flying to the Olymics I suggest you calculate the pollution from the construction equipment and energy used to make all the building materials.

 

Cancelling an event that occurs every 2 years in the name of reducing global warming is analogous to having a diet soda with your supersized fries and three quadruple pound bacon cheddar quarter pounders to reduce your caloric consumption.
It's a gesture, just an ineffective one.

 

stop eatting beef, then cancel the olympics


http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html

Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report, said when the FAO findings were released in November.

Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ Feb 20 2007, 09:54 AM) [snapback]393247[/snapback]</div>

True. (It's actually once in 4 years.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Michgal007 @ Feb 20 2007, 10:05 AM) [snapback]393255[/snapback]</div>

Not anymore. The Winter & Summer Olympics alternate. Winter ones in '06, '10, '14 and Summer in '08, '12, '16.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Feb 20 2007, 10:07 AM) [snapback]393258[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I forgot about the Winter ones. B) Coming from a tropical country, I didn't even know that winter olympics existed until about 6 years ago

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Michgal007 @ Feb 20 2007, 10:21 AM) [snapback]393267[/snapback]</div>

I think most Americans forget about the winter ones, too. Unless you're into skating or skiing, that is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Feb 20 2007, 10:24 AM) [snapback]393274[/snapback]</div>

Or, as in my case, your wife works on them...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ Feb 20 2007, 10:58 AM) [snapback]393295[/snapback]</div>

Really?!?!?!

What does she do?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Proco @ Feb 20 2007, 11:12 AM) [snapback]393304[/snapback]</div>

She's a lead member of a team that provides the facilities (video, data, etc. transmission routes) from the Olympic sites back to the US for NBC. They have to guarantee ~99.995% coverage (no dropped feeds, blackouts, etc.) to NBC, so there's significant redundancies over multiple media formats, has to deal with the local Telco's and their infrastructure (or lack thereof, many times).

She still thinks Greece was a miracle, based on how far behind the country was with the deadline literally weeks away.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(malorn @ Feb 19 2007, 11:35 PM) [snapback]393089[/snapback]</div>

It's never too late to stop making it worse.