3.08.2006
I've been thinking a lot about energy and the environment of late. I've had a few discussion about the concept of "peak oil," and it's a bit scary. Some estimates say we're already there. Others say we have 20 years or so. Either way, if we don't put the brakes on now, we're simply going to get there faster.
America in particular is in for a huge shock. We currently live so luxuriously and yet so wastefully. People and companies don't bother recycling, because it's not cost effective, or simply because it's too much trouble. A recent poster on a message board noticed that "we defacate into clean, drinkable water," while people on the other side of the world are dying of thirst. With every flush, and every trashed soda can, we are skimming a few years off of our jouney to the brink of disaster.
Am I too dramatic? The rest of the world pays roughly twice what we do at the pump. We consume 70% of the entire world's resources while only providing about 20%. We domesticate animals that are competitors in the food chain of other countries. We whine if it gets higher than 78°F in our 1200 square foot apartment. We are so fat, we don't even know.
Can we try to imagine a time when it costs $5 per gallon of gas? How about $50? Can we imagine the impact that this will have on every other consumable facet of our economy? In the words of Larry Norman: "...a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold." I certainly hope we'll all be ready.
# posted by Sir Omer : 3/08/2006 03:55:00 PM
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