All Things
Our Energy Future -- II
In order to avoid future environmental disasters like the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we need to reduce the use of oil by the military, and by agriculture. We also need to return political power to the people and take it away from the large companies, energy companies included.
But every citizen, you and I, also need to use less energy. We need to move into smaller houses, we need to drive and travel less and drive smaller cars. We need to be more hardy in the summer’s heat and in the cold of winter. How will we accomplish that?
A frequent suggestion is: “raise the price of energy.” The price of oil and gas today does not include the cost of environmental degradation or of global warming brought about by our continued excessive use of oil and gas. If we included that in the price of gas, sticker shock at the gas pump would be impressive. “Make people pay for the damage they do by driving and heating their house, and you’ll soon see a reduction in energy use.”
The problem with that suggestion is that it affects poor people disproportionately. If you already barely get by, doubling the price of gasoline and home heating will push you over the financial edge. You have to give up your car, but how will you get to work?
Just raising the price of energy will not be enough. We need to rethink how our cities are laid out, how to make it easier to walk to work or to the store. We need to rethink public transportation.
Alternative energy sources are becoming more accessible. If your house gets good sunlight during eight hours of the day, install solar panels. If there is wind where you live, install a small wind turbine to provide some of the electricity you use.
Oil companies receive between $15-$30 billion a year in government subsidies. We need to take that money and put it into developing small scale alternative energy technologies, alternative transportation technologies, into rearranging our cities to make them manageable without current energy demands.
But none of it will happen without a concerted push from you and me.
Let’s get serious.
-
What price energy? Not too long ago some Pennsylvania geologist discovered very large deposits of oil or natural gas deep down in shale deposits. This oil will not come up to the Earth's surface by itself. It needs to be forced out by...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fire Congress! This morning's newspaper reports that in the U.S. Senate refused to repeal a $5 billion subsidy for ethanol production from corn. This project, instituted under the previous president, has created a shortage...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Greening America I am happy to quote a few paragraphs from Robert F. Kennedy's Foreword to Van Jones' The Green Collar Economy: How one Solution can Fix our Two Biggest Problems (New York: Harper Collins ebooks:...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Why we are unable to prevent ecological disaster. Green is clearly in. Even the large oil companies are presenting themselves to the public as purveyors of green energy. But it is too soon to celebrate the end of global...
- Buying Local
Money is very important. You should not waste it by paying too much for the goods you buy. So people drive out to the edge of town to go to the big box stores where prices tend to be very low. They want to get as much as possible for the money they have....
All Things
Our Energy Future--Part II
Our Energy Future -- II
In order to avoid future environmental disasters like the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we need to reduce the use of oil by the military, and by agriculture. We also need to return political power to the people and take it away from the large companies, energy companies included.
But every citizen, you and I, also need to use less energy. We need to move into smaller houses, we need to drive and travel less and drive smaller cars. We need to be more hardy in the summer’s heat and in the cold of winter. How will we accomplish that?
A frequent suggestion is: “raise the price of energy.” The price of oil and gas today does not include the cost of environmental degradation or of global warming brought about by our continued excessive use of oil and gas. If we included that in the price of gas, sticker shock at the gas pump would be impressive. “Make people pay for the damage they do by driving and heating their house, and you’ll soon see a reduction in energy use.”
The problem with that suggestion is that it affects poor people disproportionately. If you already barely get by, doubling the price of gasoline and home heating will push you over the financial edge. You have to give up your car, but how will you get to work?
Just raising the price of energy will not be enough. We need to rethink how our cities are laid out, how to make it easier to walk to work or to the store. We need to rethink public transportation.
Alternative energy sources are becoming more accessible. If your house gets good sunlight during eight hours of the day, install solar panels. If there is wind where you live, install a small wind turbine to provide some of the electricity you use.
Oil companies receive between $15-$30 billion a year in government subsidies. We need to take that money and put it into developing small scale alternative energy technologies, alternative transportation technologies, into rearranging our cities to make them manageable without current energy demands.
But none of it will happen without a concerted push from you and me.
Let’s get serious.
-
What price energy? Not too long ago some Pennsylvania geologist discovered very large deposits of oil or natural gas deep down in shale deposits. This oil will not come up to the Earth's surface by itself. It needs to be forced out by...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fire Congress! This morning's newspaper reports that in the U.S. Senate refused to repeal a $5 billion subsidy for ethanol production from corn. This project, instituted under the previous president, has created a shortage...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Greening America I am happy to quote a few paragraphs from Robert F. Kennedy's Foreword to Van Jones' The Green Collar Economy: How one Solution can Fix our Two Biggest Problems (New York: Harper Collins ebooks:...
-
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Why we are unable to prevent ecological disaster. Green is clearly in. Even the large oil companies are presenting themselves to the public as purveyors of green energy. But it is too soon to celebrate the end of global...
- Buying Local
Money is very important. You should not waste it by paying too much for the goods you buy. So people drive out to the edge of town to go to the big box stores where prices tend to be very low. They want to get as much as possible for the money they have....