Time magazine casts interest in low carbon living as a potentially passing fad, calling it the Low Carbon Diet, and asking if healthy habits can survive an initial burst of enthusiasm. However, its own article answers that question: if people switch over to long-lasting, low power fluorescent bulbs, their carbon consumption permanently goes down by thousands of pounds per year. If people can be encouraged to make similar quick, near-permanent changes, then yes, they can slack off afterward and still have done some tangible good. It's not like a diet in the sense that you feel like you cut out butter so you can eat chocolate - people are not going to buy a hybrid and then feel entitled to go eat an oil-drenched baby seal! Sheesh! What a formulaic attitude, Time! [GT]
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