Having It Both Ways
I know this will come as a shock to some people, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…
… this is not a perfect world. So, get over it and make some rational decisions.
I hear people complain about the high cost of gasoline or our dependence on foreign oil (or involvement in other countries due to the need for oil) … but these same people don’t want to allow domestic oil exploration. And, while I am sure there are a handful of this group who practice truly minimalist energy consumption, most do not: they don’t think twice about driving across town to the department store to buy a small item they could easily do without until later when they’d be in that area anyway, run their air conditioners at home, leave lights on unnecessarily, tend to their lawns with inefficient gas mowers rather than hand/push mowers, leave energy-sucking plasma TV’s on when they leave the room or go to sleep, have pizza delivered rather than cooking at home, and the like… not to mention the very high energy cost associated with replacing products even when they’re not broken…. the list goes on and on.
Having been born on a farm, I was introduced to conservation at an early age. While there was certainly an ecological component to it, we had great respect for the land and how it can provide for us if it is taken care of, it had more to do with just using resources wisely… not being wasteful. It was just being rational, being thrifty. Everything has a price and, if you think a purchase is a good value, then you get something in return for what you pay. Too often, people pay (or pay extra) for things and nobody enjoys the benefit. Nobody. Think: leaving lights on when you leave the house.
So, many people… I would estimate MOST people… do not really practice conservation. But they are quick to criticize the government for our dependence on oil, for example. But wait! WE are using that oil, WE are creating that demand. If WE want to have an influence on either the price of oil or simply our dependence on foreign oil, there IS a solution. More oil exploration here in the U.S. Simple as that. Oh… I see. We don’t want to harm the environment. OUR environment. I’m with you on that but I’m also confident the old “slash and burn” tactics are a thing of the past… today’s technology and awareness allow exploitation of natural resources without destroying the environment.
But, you can’t have it both ways. We cannot rightfully complain about something if we deny the solution in the same breath and, at the same time, do nothing to change our own behavior. To do so is childish.
While we can dream about a perfect solution…. and I think technology will someday provide an energy source much closer to this, but I don’t see it happening very soon… we must be realists today.
And we cannot allow politicians to manipulate us into wasting our limited resources on false solutions. The search for alternative fuels is a laudable activity but it RESEARCH at this point. There is no viable alternative fuel source anywhere close to replacing oil at this time… every one of them either costs significantly more, in terms of energy consumption, to create than what they provide (such as ethanol) or they are not scalable (cannot provide anywhere near the total amount of energy needed, such as wind power).
The only exception is nuclear power which, while being utilized successfully in other countries, has been at a virtual standstill for decades in the U.S.
We, the people, need to face the facts and stop whining. We must simply live our lives as efficiently as possible, buy products that are built and designed as efficiently as possible, and choose the most efficient power sources that are available RIGHT NOW. Certainly, we continue to do research (hey, isn’t that what universities do a lot of?) and search for better alternatives… but we cannot adopt alternatives that are not yet viable. To do so is to set ourselves up for failure.
