Love or die.
Being Realistic Yet Optimistic
Anyone who thinks that all the fossil fuel burning we humans have being doing isn't going to continue to deplete their limited supply is suffering from what psychiatrists call "magical thinking." Aside from their environmental effects, this is a clear case of too many people wanting these non-renewable resources. I remember being outraged when the price of gas hit 30 cents a gallon - said to myself I'd never pay that much no matter how far I had to drive to get cheaper gas. Well, I'll not pay that much for gas again - because it never will be that price again. Being a non-renewable resource, as gas is continued to be burned by billions of people all over the world it will continue to rise in price. Simple logic.
My reading has turned up that some in the oil industry have purposely hindered both recognition that oil is a finite resource and development of the many alternative energy schemes.
To remain hopeful at this point in our civilization, base your decisions on the necessity of transitioning in large part from fossil fuels. As difficult as it is to imagine that massive a change, we know it is not only possible but vital.
One statistical claim that has given me hope recently is that if we were to transition to fuel cell vehicles, those vehicles while not on the road could serve as stationary sources of sufficient energy while parked to make unnecessary fossil fuels and nuclear. There are so many combinations of strategies that a progressive administration would be including in it's development scheme. That they are not currently being pursued can only indicate that fossil fuel lobbyists have succeeded in stymying efforts to get us off of our addiction to non-renewable energy.
So, call it a revolution if you will, but we need deep and massive change. And we will have it, or all hell's gonna break loose.
That's the best I can do for realistic optimism. We can still have the highest standard of living, with wonderful new inventions continuing to come onto the market, if we're willing to put our all into renewable and environmentally benign technology.
Anyone who thinks that all the fossil fuel burning we humans have being doing isn't going to continue to deplete their limited supply is suffering from what psychiatrists call "magical thinking." Aside from their environmental effects, this is a clear case of too many people wanting these non-renewable resources. I remember being outraged when the price of gas hit 30 cents a gallon - said to myself I'd never pay that much no matter how far I had to drive to get cheaper gas. Well, I'll not pay that much for gas again - because it never will be that price again. Being a non-renewable resource, as gas is continued to be burned by billions of people all over the world it will continue to rise in price. Simple logic.
My reading has turned up that some in the oil industry have purposely hindered both recognition that oil is a finite resource and development of the many alternative energy schemes.
To remain hopeful at this point in our civilization, base your decisions on the necessity of transitioning in large part from fossil fuels. As difficult as it is to imagine that massive a change, we know it is not only possible but vital.
One statistical claim that has given me hope recently is that if we were to transition to fuel cell vehicles, those vehicles while not on the road could serve as stationary sources of sufficient energy while parked to make unnecessary fossil fuels and nuclear. There are so many combinations of strategies that a progressive administration would be including in it's development scheme. That they are not currently being pursued can only indicate that fossil fuel lobbyists have succeeded in stymying efforts to get us off of our addiction to non-renewable energy.
So, call it a revolution if you will, but we need deep and massive change. And we will have it, or all hell's gonna break loose.
That's the best I can do for realistic optimism. We can still have the highest standard of living, with wonderful new inventions continuing to come onto the market, if we're willing to put our all into renewable and environmentally benign technology.
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 12:52 PM
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