Scary alternet article...
Dec. 4th, 2003 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
It's about oil.
I don't know the accuracy of the article. It doesn't especially matter, we know and have known for years that fossil fuels are nonrenewable. Furthermore, we know, or should know, that the United States has the highest per capita consumption rate in the world. And if we don't know this, we should figure it out soon, our dependency on foreign oil is crippling us.
What pisses me off is that there are so many ways to reduce our dependancy on oil. I could retrofit my house to be fairly self-sustained (okay, it'd be hard, especially as solar power is none to reliable this far north, but I could do it) and it wouldn't even kill the piggy bank. So it can't be that inconceivable for us to do something larger!
Let's see what we've got:
1. Look into alternative energy sources
a. solar
b. wind
c. natural gas/methane (which is actually renewable)
d. hydroelectric (okay, so it is hell to the fishies)
e. nuclear (eventually, we'll lack fissionable material and there is the meltdown risk, this is a last resort)
2. Reduce consumption on the main grid
a. make products more energy efficient
a1. make appliances that less energy while in use
a2. make appliances that use less energy while turned off... or simply unplug them. Most appliances use energy just by being plugged in.
b. for smaller appliances like radios, there are some which you can wind up, mostly used for camping or disasters... or you could convert gyms so that every time somebody runs on the treadmill or the bike, it produces some output :)
3. Reduce non-electric oil use in cars
a. electric cars, anyone? Or at least hybrids? Or at least NON-SUVS?
b. two words: public transportation. This also reduces traffic
c. two more words: BIKING and WALKING. This also reduces weight.
4. Reduce oil use for plastics
a. theoretically, one can make plastics (biodegradable!) from plants... but they stopped research into that
b. recycle?
This is all off the top of my head, of course. Any more ideas?
Based on that article, I think I want to start a commune to await the fall of civilization as we know it. Query. Do non-religious communes get tax breaks, or would I have to start a cult?
I don't know the accuracy of the article. It doesn't especially matter, we know and have known for years that fossil fuels are nonrenewable. Furthermore, we know, or should know, that the United States has the highest per capita consumption rate in the world. And if we don't know this, we should figure it out soon, our dependency on foreign oil is crippling us.
What pisses me off is that there are so many ways to reduce our dependancy on oil. I could retrofit my house to be fairly self-sustained (okay, it'd be hard, especially as solar power is none to reliable this far north, but I could do it) and it wouldn't even kill the piggy bank. So it can't be that inconceivable for us to do something larger!
Let's see what we've got:
1. Look into alternative energy sources
a. solar
b. wind
c. natural gas/methane (which is actually renewable)
d. hydroelectric (okay, so it is hell to the fishies)
e. nuclear (eventually, we'll lack fissionable material and there is the meltdown risk, this is a last resort)
2. Reduce consumption on the main grid
a. make products more energy efficient
a1. make appliances that less energy while in use
a2. make appliances that use less energy while turned off... or simply unplug them. Most appliances use energy just by being plugged in.
b. for smaller appliances like radios, there are some which you can wind up, mostly used for camping or disasters... or you could convert gyms so that every time somebody runs on the treadmill or the bike, it produces some output :)
3. Reduce non-electric oil use in cars
a. electric cars, anyone? Or at least hybrids? Or at least NON-SUVS?
b. two words: public transportation. This also reduces traffic
c. two more words: BIKING and WALKING. This also reduces weight.
4. Reduce oil use for plastics
a. theoretically, one can make plastics (biodegradable!) from plants... but they stopped research into that
b. recycle?
This is all off the top of my head, of course. Any more ideas?
Based on that article, I think I want to start a commune to await the fall of civilization as we know it. Query. Do non-religious communes get tax breaks, or would I have to start a cult?
no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 11:03 am (UTC)If we started a massive education campaign, we could change the minds of most of the country.
Or if we stopped letting big business help politicians.
...
Date: 2003-12-05 11:21 am (UTC)GOD I hate this country. I don't care. Fuck it.
sorry I'm in a mood. Since 'Rene came back all Jess has to say to me is yelling. About whatever. Yay for fairweather friends.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 11:27 am (UTC)It's not really big business. It's interest groups. Educate the AARP and you can do anything you want.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 05:45 pm (UTC)PACs can pay up to 5 thousand. Individuals up to 250. But a company/corporation can't fund. Same goes for labor unions. They've been banned from financing campaigns for decades. That doesn't mean they can't have dabblings on the side (why I only pay for American gas/oil) but that's the way it is.
The dairy industry counts as an interest group, same as the farmers do.