How much green is too much?

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jfloyd/stories/080508dnmetfloyd.13e68202.html How much is too much? With the national climate tending towards cutting back and ‘going green’ cutting energy and utilizing better-for-the-environment products are we missing something? According to staff writer, Jacquielynn Floyd, for the Dallas Local, Morning News one political theorist went too far when he encouraged the end of air conditioning. According to Jacquielynn, “Five thousand years of recorded history confirms that human society endured before A/C was invented, but that doesn't mean they were happy about it. Mr. Carrier, whose "Apparatus for Treating Air" was patented in 1906, no doubt occupies a bejeweled throne in Paradise, surrounded by a host of angels and adoring cherubim. The temperature there is a celestial 70 degrees.” Her antagonist, Joe Klein a columnist for Time Magazine was the one who originally made the statement. His views, as she summarizes “Mr. Klein wrote a column a while back entitled "Kill Your Air Conditioner," in which he says we would be better and more virtuous Americans if we, as he does, lived without A/C.” Isn’t there some happy medium? Can’t we have cake and eat it too? Well…no. That has never worked. However, there are energy saving and smart ways to cool your home. Moreover, even if California is not as hot as Dallas is, we can still rest assured that we are doing our part to save energy. If your unit is at or above 13 SEERs and you set your thermostat at 78 degrees, you can participate in change, and not die doing so. However, if your bills keep getting higher and your unit runs longer and longer into the night – OR if you do not have a programmable thermostat – IT IS TIME TO GET A NEW UNIT!