Ecogeek Deathmatch: Ed Begley Jr. v. Bill Nye, Science Guy
News: Which Hollywood do-gooder has the greener crib? A no-holds-barred fight to the furnished.
Ed Begley Jr.'s solar-powered, rainwater-recycling house was the greenest in his Studio City neighborhood—until his friend Bill Nye, the erstwhile science guy, vowed to outdo him. A rundown of the competition:
 |  |
|---|---|
| Bill Nye | Ed Begley, Jr. |
Rainwater Collection Barrels | |
WHAT: | |
Nye: Ed's barrels look funny; they're big and red. Mine match my house. I'll believe it when I see it. No, wait. I'll believe it when I don't see it. |
Begley: I'm going to get an underground cistern. It'll be totally invisible. |
Blue-Jean Insulation | |
WHAT: | |
Begley: I had denim first. | |
Windows 2.0 | |
WHAT: | |
Nye: The guy who did my windows told me Ed hadn't done all his windows. I did them all. | Begley: I started retrofitting my windows in the '90s—and with heating and air costs, I made my money back years ago. |
Patio Pergola | |
WHAT: | |
Begley: I covet Bill's pergola. I just have a piece of lawn furniture from the '90s. | |
Solar Panels | |
WHAT: | |
Nye: The reason I have only four kilowatts is my neighbor's sycamore tree, which provides cooling. And by the way, Ed, why don't you clean up all those cables under your solar panels? | Begley: I have 6.5 kilowatts of solar. Bill has maybe two or three [actually four]. I applaud his effort for trying so hard and still ending up second best. |
Smart Lawn | |
WHAT: | |
Nye: He also has an area of plastic grass. Why don't you just pave it? | Begley: Bill has a lawn in his front yard. I just have fruit trees. |
Parting Shots | |
Nye: I love you, man. Let's change the world. |
Begley: I'm going to crush you, Nye. |
Related article: Diet for a Warm Planet
Kiera Butler is an associate editor at Mother Jones.
this is surely the best way.
Troll, baby, these are more than faces... these are talking heads! And what great heads. Nye is Bill Nye the Science Guy. More than a face. He has a fan club; bit hyper-fans, but a club. The other guy... I don't know; something from Mork and Mindy springs to mind, but that is probably too much for you.
They are arguing over paper vs. plastic, baby.
Get it? They are having the wrong argument... they should ditch their house and live in a thatch hut on the beach, if they think they are having any true impact on the problem. There are going on 7 billion of us and thanks to the internet and Jordache jeans we all now want... everything. We can't have it, though, and Nye knows this... he knows that human-kind CANNOT fix their own problems because we are culturally incapable of total, united sacrifice... another words, due to darwinian selection, some greedy jerk will always hold out and the process, no matter how close to perfect we make it, will always begin over again. We are in a death spiral and you can only hope to protect your small corner of the titanic-deck space till the final act; the time for clarion calls and sirens has passed.
Good luck.