light bulb zoo

Last Friday we took our daughter (who is 1 1/2) to the zoo in Indianapolis. This was the first time I had visited this zoo and it has been a while since I have been to a zoo at all. Overall, it is a pretty good zoo - very clean and well-presented, with good views of the animals and such (I don't know how else one rates a zoo). One special attraction here was the dolphin show, located in an indoor arena and pool. We figured that our daughter would love this experience, so we went.

And she loved it. Totally. It was more fun watching her watch the dolphin show than it was actually watching the dolphins. Great fun.

However, my comments do need to go further with the dolphins. . .
By way of making this show more *interesting* they decided that they would tell a story throughout which the dolphins would break into various routines and tricks. Not a terrible idea, except that the story was all about changing the incandescent light bulbs in our homes to fluorescent light bulbs in order to cut down on CO2 emissions and, therefore, save the planet from its certain impending doom. OK, I guess I should have expected a fair degree of conservationism at the zoo but get this. . .there was NOT ONE WORD mentioned about the dolphins! None! I kid you not. Not even their names, age, how long they've been at the zoo. Nada. My comments were clearly made from my seat, "What the crap!?!"

The facts on this, by the way, are contrary to the zoo's presentation (along with a bunch of other people who are getting money from promoting such garbage). Consider this example: Australia wants to replace all of their light bulbs with these fluorescent bulbs and brags that it will save an average of 800,000 metric tons of CO2 per year for the next four years! Wow. Except that they did not tell you that this only amounts to 0.21 percent of their total emissions. This would reduce world emissions by 0.003 percent! Calculations are that this *savings* would be nullified in approximately 5 hours.

Now, if you want to install these pieces-of-crap light bulbs then more power to ya. But don't preach about it to me and don't think that you're saving the planet. It is just stupid. And a note to the Indianapolis Zoo: Please don't allow the money-power of these light bulbs to take away from the animals - it's really counterproductive. If you don't believe me, then consider implementing this suggestion:
1. Make the dolphin show about the dolphins. Talk about them, show them off, educate us about them, etc. . .
2. Create a show about fluorescent light bulbs. Offer it at your zoo and keep everything else out of it, and take thirty minutes to tell everyone how these light bulbs are going to save the planet.
3. See which show is completely empty by the end of the first day.
4. See if we really give a crap about the light bulbs.

Yes, we're smarter than this. And you know it. But somebody needs their kickbacks.

Since I'm a biblioblog:
As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.
Genesis 8:22