Bill Nye at MSU

Trevor’s Theory

GUEST BLOGGER
Trevor Acy

As a long time Bill Nye the Science Guy fan, you can not begin to comprehend my excitement when I saw that the man himself was giving an environmental lecture on campus. In 2006, our then President Charles Lee, started the Global Lecture Series here at Mississippi State which aims at bringing in speakers on all sorts of different topics. This semester we had the honor of having Bill Nye come and give a lecture (more of a performance) on environmental changes.

If you ever get the chance to go hear Bill Nye speak, take it. Not only are you surely going to learn something, but you will genuinely have fun. His antics from television are only enhanced in person. His presentation was not scripted, he didn’t read from his slides (the biggest bore to an audience, so I beg you educators out there; don’t do it), kept the technical jargon down, and put a very informal spin on the whole presentation.

While his lecture was on environmental issues, it never felt like we were being preached to, like I said he kept it very informal. Unlike many people on the subject who concentrate only on what problems the current situation is inflicting upon the Earth, Bill mainly just detailed simple ways to help correct the issues. For one, and though he didn’t say it quite as directly as this, NASCAR should either be completely overhauled or put to a stop. Those cars, whose only job is to race around a track for HUNDREDS of miles get 5 miles to the gallon. That’s less than a Chevy Suburban! Bill Nye has a very “green” house, with solar heating and natural lighting for the common areas of his home. He generates more electricity than he uses (he showed us a video of his meter actually running backwards). If your first thought upon reading about his house was, “but how much did it cost?” He claims that it costs less than the average swimming pool and can easily be added on to your mortgage for as little as $20-$30 bucks a month.

I’m a relatively conscientious consumer, but so far have only invested in the little things like washing my clothes with cold water detergent and buying the environmentally friendly, longer lasting, light bulbs. Listening to Bill Nye tonight though, I think has turned me into a eco-nut. I am definitely going to buy a eco-friendly car and will not settle for anything less than 30 miles to the gallon. As soon as I own my own place, which granted will be a couple of years, I’m going to make considerable strives to do more with less.

To finish up, I strongly suggest you educate yourself on ways to ease the burden of this fantastic planet (and save yourself some money). Even if you don’t believe in all the global warming hype, what harm is there in saving everyone, including yourself, from the negative externalities of the items we use and abuse today.