It’s always about health.
What is bad for us is bad for the world around us.
Oil is definitely bad for everyone.
The events in the Gulf of Mexico should scare the hell out of everyone whose head is not planted in sand. This dark cloud is marching across the Gulf and will decimate thousands of ecosystems while it poses an ecological apocalypse for all life dependent on this fountainhead.
This is not an overstatement of the issue.
Not one of my colleagues, friends or daily acquaintances has mentioned the devastation that is befalling. Unfortunately, the design of modern life is to preoccupy the everyday man within his own world of achievement. “How can I make more money?” “How can I send my child to school?” “How can afford to pay for the health and well-being of my loved-ones?” Modern life keeps us focused on our material world and alienates us from one another. We struggle to communicate through social media, but we remain in the dark as much as if we were submerged in the oily waters off Louisiana.
This is the root of our ills in today’s society. Many feel isolated and powerless in our modern world.
The good news is that our perceived helplessness is a fallacy. Each of us has the power to re-direct our behaviors against the forces that steal our humanity, and I hope the devastation in the Gulf is a rallying cry to eliminate the bonds of oil from our modern life. This is not the time for our government to start efforts to make drilling safer. This is the time for serious efforts to eliminate oil from our economy.
Oil is dirty, expensive and keeps us locked into making the rich even richer. We need to break this filthy bond once and for all, but it’s going to hurt and we may all have to accept that we have reached the pinnacle of wealth and comfort within our times. Not within the potential of man, but within the next few generations.
It is time for the modern world to pay the piper.
Let’s eliminate oil as the primary energy in our lives. We can do this with both modest and severe changes to how we live.
Here are my suggestions:
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Think before you buy a car. Do you need a car, or can public transportation or a bike suffice? Buy an electric care if longer trips are necessary. Buy a hybrid if your needs exceed the mileage offered by electric cars. Car manufacturers have already gotten the message that energy efficiency is important to consumers, and we can’t let them forget and revert to gas-guzzling vehicles once oil prices drop.
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Walk! I am as guilty of this as are you, but this is doable. When you can, walk to the store for your daily milk or bread. Do it and forget about the 45 minute workout at the gym. You will be healthier for it and you will decrease your gasoline consumption. You may also be less likely to forget items when you walk! If you are like me you travel to the store an average of 4-5 times a week.
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Buy locally. Purchase your fruits, vegetables and meats from locally grown sources. How much gasoline has taken to get your bunch of grapes from South America to your local food store? Maybe you will live without items during the off-season. This is the pain that must be swallowed.
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Travel less. The modern world is an environmental bane, but it offers us communication tools that make it possible to connect with others around the world from the comfort of our couches. This is the trend in business, and it needs to continue. Instead of driving to the beach or mountains, vacation in your community. Create a paradise in your own home.
- Make wise energy choices. If your state provides energy vendor choices choose those involved in clean renewable sources such as wind, solar, geo-thermal or even natural gas. If you are heating your water with oil, convert to electronic or natural gas. Home-based solar and wind energy sources are becoming consumer friendly, and many states have rebate programs to lessen the financial burden.
Today I wept watching a fish struggle for oxygen in the hands of an environmentalist.
How long before we are struggling for our last breath? Will your brother turn a blind eye from your humanity and towards his gold profits?
It is time for a change, and those of you with your heads in the sand will find it covered in oil when you finally pull it out.
I am angry and you should be too.
