Editorial 07-13-08
A Perspective: Remember the 70s? It's now 2008!
Remember the 70’s? Remember vehicles lined up around the block waiting to get gasoline? I recall Dad stashing a few extra gallon containers of gas in the storage shed, and being told those weren’t to be used, even for the lawn mower. I was just a kid then, and didn’t really pick up on the “just-in-case,” slight hint of worry tone in my parent’s voices. I did however pick up on Mom’s chiming in and stating “not to breathe the fumes, as they were dangerous”. But, wasn’t it more dangerous to rely on oil as a major source of energy? That wasn’t my thought at the time, as I wasn’t an adult, nor a gifted kid. Heck, I wasn’t worried about the price or the fumes at all, but rather how I was going to siphon off a tad, and safely get it to the basement so the neighborhood and I could experiment, but that is better left for a later date.
Now, 30-35 years later, I have to admit begrudgingly that I am an adult. My parents are thankfully still alive. My childhood friends that I have lost contact with, have hopefully been part of the innovation we have seen transpire on most all fronts around us as we aged and prospered. Now there are no phone cords anymore, just cell phones galore. No more Sony Walkmans with alkaline batteries, just Apple Ipods with a battery the size of a dot inside, thanks to something called lithium. Now we see the news via cable or with internet access and laptops, not so much newspapers anymore. Times have changed - or have they? Times haven’t changed on all fronts. We are still dependent on oil - in fact, more so than ever. The question I ask is “what happened to progress on renewable energy products and development?” Why didn’t the clean energy revolution take off in America, and progressively grow and prosper, from way back then? Why didn’t we reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, cutting the carbon emissions that are possibly destabilizing our climate, and expand opportunities for American businesses and workers here in our country? Why didn’t we keep our lousy dollar at home instead of sending it overseas and buying Mideast oil and funding some groups that hate America?
It is time to do the right thing! Imagine what 40 years of research will do for us if we put all our universities and government to task to support renewable energy research. The time to act is now. It is the responsible thing to do. That 70’s era provided a glimpse into how dependent we were on oil. We as a country had the opportunity to learn a lesson. We didn’t! Our Congress failed us; we failed us; as we went back to our routines and daily lives in the 70’s (maybe the lead paint made us do it, or perhaps the leaded gas in our drinking water. Remember, leaded gas and not buying American cars was a faux pas - and un-American. Isn’t not buying American made energy in the same vein of thought? What were we thinking?). We, the plebeians, didn’t have the forethought or fortitude to set in place a process to prevent the same crisis from occurring again by insisting that our elected officials do the right thing.
Now we have American Soldiers on the ground with dusty boots atop a bountiful black gold pile, and somehow we have a supply and demand problem here at home, that purports high oil prices. Now please! It can’t be that oxymoronic - but it is! And, regardless of why we are over there, do we really want to walk away from standing atop a resource that we need for now? Until we relieve our dependence on oil as a nation, we probably can’t really make that call without trepidation. I don’t think those troops can come home. I want them home! But in all honesty can we afford to bring them home now given the oil dependency. Wars are always justified by someone and for lots of reasons, but when it comes down to it, there are only three reasons. The first, self-defense or being attacked is a justifiable reason to go to war. That includes invasion! The second reason that war is justified is idealism/theology. And, finally, there is economics/fuel. Consider America’s role in WWII. Japan attacked the US for a number of reasons, the main one being President Roosevelt banning all exports of scrap iron, steel and oil to Japan, and we went to war. War for natural resources was probably the most common cause of war in the last century. Japan attacked China and Indochina in order to get oil and food for expanding industries and populations. Germany attacked the Soviets for oil and land in WWII. The African wars of the past 20 years were largely over diamonds and food. Vietnam also had oil involved.
Maybe the price of oil will go down if we leave, stay, or hadn’t gone in at all. But, I have sneaky suspicion that it really doesn’t matter now. But, that is another topic in the making. All facets of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders might this time, 30 years later, take notice. Fool me once - shame on you; fool me twice - shame on me. I don’t want to face the latter part of that statement anymore as a citizen of the United States of America. I am an adult now without a child-like thought, except that we need to fix this and get back to our utopian life without being held hostage by other oil rich and oil controlling nations. Now let’s do something about it! Let the oil nations go on as they have, so we can feel less like bootlicking, politicking, sycophantic and un-empowered peoples that we might not have to involve ourselves in their part of the world or culture due to oil. We may have to be there due to ideology, but at least take one reason for war off the table. Take away their oil riches due our demand and thirst, and they will have to stand up on their own cultural principles and do what is best for them.
If we had started working on the solutions to this before it became a problem, back in the 70’s when it was already clear where the use of oil was taking us, we would not be having this discussion today. We fell asleep and became apathetic to our need. The positive news from rising gas prices is that we have been mustered out of our stupor. All we ever needed to do was unleash what we do best - innovate.
A new revolution is underway. It is a declaration of independence from fossil fuels. It may take years to win, but we are fighting for the right to move and breathe. It's worth it. The enemy is not oil companies, and it is not the federal government or any political party. The enemy is our perception that oil and coal are preferred energy resources over renewable alternatives. We still need to use oil, coal, etc., but we need to dive head first into wood, nuclear, wind, solar, hydroelectric, and so on. The enemy is our perception that there is nothing we can do, and that sun, wind, geothermal and smart grid applications are too expensive to engage. It will be tempting to go back to sleep until somebody else in a different time zone solves the problem of cost for us. This is the part where we imagine turning blue again. We need to associate pain with doing nothing.
One of the best alternative options for individuals to grasp is wood pellets. It’s available now; it’s renewable through proper harvesting; it‘s cleaner burning; and the EPA considers it a carbon neutral energy source. In other words – it’s GREEN! The current standard is to purchase a stove insert for an existing fireplace setup; however, what most people do not realize as pellet appliances can be installed in a home with no fireplace. You can even purchase a pellet boiler and convert all of your heating, including that of heating your water, over to wood pellets. It’s not only cost effective but also more efficient. There is, of course, a cost involved with any appliance change, but with the price of oil through the roof and headed for the stars, amortization of a wood pellet set up will be around five years. That does not take into account any changes from legislation that may offer tax credits or even the improved value in the property.
We need to promote policies and initiatives to speed investment in clean energy technology and energy efficiency, reward people switching over to alternative forms of energy, and put millions of Americans back to work in a new generation of well-paid, green collar jobs, and make America a global leader in clean energy products and services. Heck, have you seen that new wind powered turbine push mower on the market? It is called the 2010 HSLL PM (hard sweat lessons learned - push mower) model. The wind power is you huffing and puffing; it’s cheaper than our reliance on oil. Hey, as they say, you get what you pay for — a little exercise and extra coin in the bank. Pay now or pay later.
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