To the Editor:
I would like to comment on a Commentary written by William Patenaude, “Come learn how you can ‘green’ your congregation,” Thursday, January 3, 2008, Rhode Island Catholic.
Of course it is always wonderful to hear about people or organizations conserving energy, but at whose expense? Let me bring to light a former energy saver hoax, which poured “green” into someone else’s pocket rather than our own.
Do you remember the energy saver toilet? Of course you do; it is now illegal to buy the former larger tank toilets, because it wastes water. Really, is this why it requires two flushes to accomplish the task that the former toilets did in one flush? Not to mention that fact that everyone now has to have a plunger next to all the toilets due to their inefficiency. I guess the plunger industry got “greener,” as indicated in an article that ran in the Wall Street Journal in 2007 on this very topic.
Now the latest hoax is the energy efficient light bulb, which is and will replace our current incandescent bulbs, which of course will be illegal in a few short years. Let me point out that these new “energy efficient” bulbs contain mercury. It won’t be too long, you can bet, that disposing of these bulbs will be costing the average household and business many dollars to dispense, and I am sure there will be a law and a fine to make someone else “greener.” How many people will dispose of these bulbs properly and not pollute the environment, especially if it requires a fee to do so? We are worried about lead paint, asbestos, and have eradicated these deadly products from human contact. We even did away with the old mercury thermometers, only to bring back mercury in our light bulbs to hang over our heads. Hello!!
In conclusion, my family and I have one religion called Catholicism, and we will never buy into the costly religion called “Global Warming.” It is a hoax and there is no consensus in science, never. Also, this planet has had several Ice Ages and warming periods, we are not divine, nor will we ever be.
So before we boast about “making your congregations green”, we need to really put on our intellectual hats and follow the money, you will find that “green” is the color of money and not its true intensions to help the planet.
Stephen DeNuccio
Providence
