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The upgrade frenzy caused by Apple is really, really concerning. Just the labor practice alone[1][2] is appalling enough, not to mention the the amount of energy[3] it takes to produce a new device every 6 months. Can't people live with the same gadget for at least a couple/few years without going ape every time something new comes out?

[1] - http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/02/27/apple-child-labor-china-history-sketchy-manufacturing/
[2] - http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/apple-may-be-poisoning-chinese-workers-and-doesnt-seem-to-care-should-we/9908
[3] - http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1119.html

Reservoir sites usually contain lots of vegetation, and once underwater, the plants naturally decompose and release methane (a greenhouse gas). That's why it's considered "dirty." It's considered destructive because of the effect on migratory patterns, currents, and the overall eco-system surrounding the dam. There have also been reports of increased temperature levels around hydroelectric dams which can have a very harmful effect on surrounding wildlife.

Thermal effects of hydroelectric power stations on the environment

The Environmental Literacy Council - Hydroelectric Power

"horse manure was the catalyst for the automobile"

Just because it couldn't be more off-topic, The Horse & the Urban Environment describes this relationship quite well.

First of all, if you think about it, horse crap could not have gotten that bad. There were far more people than horses when this article was written and they weren't worried about people crap. Somehow they could deal with that, but horses? If they had a problem it was a problem with perception. Dealing with horse manure was actually a trivial problem. And they did it. There was never instances of horse manure piling up; they had, at worst, an economic problem of how to pay for removal.

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html:
While the nineteenth century American city faced many forms of environmental pollution, none was as all encompassing as that produced by the horse. The most severe problem was that caused by horses defecating and urinating in the streets, but dead animals and noise pollution also produced serious annoyances and even health problems. The normal city horse produced between fifteen and thirty-five pounds of manure a day and about a quart of urine, usually distributed along the course of its route or deposited in the stable. While cities made sporadic attempts to keep the streets clean, the manure was everywhere, along the roadway, heaped in piles or next to stables, or ground up by the traffic and blown about by the wind.
Inventors and city officials devised improved methods of street cleaning and street sweeping became a major urban expense. Increasingly, however, it became obvious that the most effective way to eliminate the "typhoid fly" (so named by L.O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology of the Department of Agriculture and a leader in the campaign against flies), was to eliminate the horse.
As late as the 1890s, a Scientific American writer noted that the sounds of traffic on busy New York streets made conversation nearly impossible, while the author William Dean Howells complained that "the sharp clatter of the horses' iron shoes" on the pavement tormented his ear.
In 1880, New York City removed 15,000 dead horses from its streets, and late as 1916 Chicago carted away 9,202 horse carcasses.

Yeah, right, the "Horse made problems" were just made up by the liberals and it simply wasn't that bad.

"The New York administration of the late 19th century" did not invent or popularise the automobile, or the train.

Well, the train was already quite mature by then, and there were several elevated lines in New York. And of course the opening of the first NY subway line falls clearly out of that time range (1904).

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html
It's not like horse manure was the only problem BTW: "In 1880, New York City removed 15,000 dead horses from its streets, and late as 1916 Chicago carted away 9,202 horse carcasses. Special trucks were devised to remove dead horses; since the average weight of dead horses was 1,300 pounds, one text on municipal refuse advised that "trucks for the removal of dead horses should be hung low, to avoid an excessive lift."

The coming of the automobile dealt another large blow to the horse. Experimental motor cars had been around for a long time, but cities had always banned them. The crisis of the 1890s and early twentieth century, involving public health fears about pollution, traffic jams, and rising prices for both hay, oats, and urban land, made municipal governments and urban residents much more ready to switch to autos.

Sadly enough, this is true.

Other issues, including a radioactive tree:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jan/06/worst-of-ornl/

The frog bit:

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/451.html

We even have a web design company named after it (don't know anything about them - nice Google ranking though):

http://www.radfrog.com/

Yes, I live in Oak Ridge, TN.

Only about 7% is lost due to heat in high voltage tranmission. Also, there is an efficiency hit taken for each transformer but it varies based on the size of the transformer.

Permafrost layers have been shown to release tremendous amounts of captive CO2 when melted. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-04d.html

As for your "only a couple of sources of CO2", you need to realize that IPCC themselves recognize over 20 separate CO2 sources and sinks in the climate model, few of which are of a "known" quantity. The carbon cycle is one of the largest and least understood cycles of the atmosphere, simply because it is so complex. http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/439.html

And as for doing this without links, I refuse to do that, since the very next response would be "WHERE'S YOUR CITATIONS, LOSER!"

Besides, the whole article is about how, prior to human influence, the CO2 levels followed climate trends. So are you claiming that prior to the last ice age the neanderthals and cro-magnons were driving SUVs?

You are so out of touch, it's funny.
If you performed a cursory Google search for deaths/mile statistics, you would find that the U.S. has historically had, and continues to have, a lower rate than Germany.
However, your ignorance really shines through when you say you prefer horses. You should Google that as well. For instance: http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/578.html
Horses were far more dangerous to public health in urban environments than cars are today.

Wrong. "Although the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. In July 1999, the United States Senate voted 95-0 to pass a resolution co-sponsored by Sen. Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Hagel (R-Neb.), which stated the Senate would not ratify the Protocol unless rapidly developing countries such as China were included in its requirements to reduce greenhouse gases. The Clinton Administration announced it would not send the treaty to the Senate for ratification." In other words, they voted it down! http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/278.html /

I stand corrected.

Using the numbers you provided for me regarding internet users we would be at roughly 43% of the population, not 70%. Incorrect, but still within the limits of what my argument was stating.

According to this, roughly 60% of Americans have a cell phone compared to the roughly33% predicted in China by 2007. I know these numbers are loose, but its what I could find.

This states that there were 2.1 cars in the US per person in 2000. So I'll stick with the 70% there.

These numbers support my underestimation of TV's in America, but I really don't think that was ever in question.

In summation, you are correct that I should have used the number of internet active people in the US instead.

I'm amazed that you missed the biggest ecological disaster in the world, caused by the Soviets: The Aral Sea disaster.

I had a hard time believing that 98 senators would send such a letter, so Looked it up. I learned something today:

"Although the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. In July 1999, the United States Senate voted 95-0 to pass a resolution co-sponsored by Sen. Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Hagel (R-Neb.), which stated the Senate would not ratify the Protocol unless rapidly developing countries such as China were included in its requirements to reduce greenhouse gases. The Clinton Administration announced it would not send the treaty to the Senate for ratification."

...but it might cost too much to get at it.

There are current theories (that the oil companies don't want you to consider) that suggest that oil does not originate in dinosaur-era plant life, but in reactions to high pressure and temperature in carbon-bearing rock in the earth's crust. See here for an article.

Points to consider: Some of the major oil basins have no connection to the primordial seas, and are much deeper than life ever existed. Also, no remains of life have ever been found in oil-bearing rock. Lastly, the makeup of petroleum is consistent with what can be made from meteoric carbonaceous chondrite rock.

Horse manure, on the other hand, had immediate, obvious, severe repercussions on health, sanitation, air quality, economics, and general quality of life. It was much worse.

The most severe problem was that caused by horses defecating and urinating in the streets, but dead animals and noise pollution also produced serious annoyances and even health problems. The normal city horse produced between fifteen and thirty-five pounds of manure a day and about a quart of urine, usually distributed along the course of its route or deposited in the stable.
...
Manure piles also produced huge numbers of flies, in reality a much more serious vector for infectious diseases such as typhoid fever than odors. By the turn of the century public health officials had largely accepted the bacterial theory of disease and had identified the "queen of the dung-heap" or fly, as a major source.