You probably know what I think about politicians, especially ex-VPs who 
do just that. I hardly think that the circus involving presidential 
elections in some nameless countries where it takes a year of gassing to 
the sovereign people, before even being nominated as a candidate, then 
meeting to be nominated as a candidate, then electioneering in every 
hamlet that promises $$$$ to the candidates, then going to the polls to 
elect a representative who may or may not vote as you wish in an 
electoral college, then argue the toss through the courts because a chad 
wasn't punched properly etc., etc., etc. and finally move into a big 
house the following January. Of course, I'm talking about Zimbabwe.

In Europe, there is a feeling that the "captains of industry and 
commerce" are being remunerated with truly obscene salaries. I think the 
same should be said about some politicians. To bring it home to your 
roost, how much abject poverty caused by the sub-prime mortgages could 
have been avoided had the money raised by the dozen or so presidential 
candidates been spent on relief for those in need?

However, I'm going OT!

Brian

Steve Gregory wrote:
> Brian,
> 
> Just to add to the discussion, you have to wonder about the footprint of
> the all the politicians and their entourages who are criss-crossing the
> country daily in jet airliners all the while saying how they're going to
> reduce greenhouse gases and address global warming....yada-yada-yada.
> 
> Steve
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: EnviroNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brian Ellis
> Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 7:36 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [EN] Is information dissemination environmentally-friendly?
> 
> It seems that hardly a week goes by without the IPC advertising some
> meeting, conference, exhibition or other event (webcasts excluded). Then
> there are others sponsored by other organisations.
> 
> These most frequently involve travelling and lodging in hotels, neither
> of which are without a severe impact on the environment. It would be an
>   interesting calculation to work out the no. of kg of CO2 emitted for
> attendees of these events just to be there.
> 
> The figure must average in the hundreds of kg/delegate, if not more. Is
> there any way to reduce this, e.g., more Internet conferences, seminars
> equipment demos, one-on-one discussions etc???
> 
> Just a thought with oil at $150/bbl to spice the discussion.
> 
> Brian
>