*ahem*
Most of you who know me, know my views on…well, a lot of things, because I am both loud and opinionated. I just hope I pull it off with panache. Or moxie. Take your pick.
But in response to this BS about opening up offshore oil drilling in response to rising oil prices that’s been making the rounds, the following analogy came to mind.
Let’s say you know someone who’s a heroin addict. So, you go up to them one day and say “well, I know you’re having a tough time. But it’s okay, I’ve figured out how to give you some relief. I know where you can get some more heroin.”
We’re using fossil fuels at an inherently unsustainable rate, and have been for YEARS. So much of our built environment has been built around this ridiculously unsustainable and unhealthy habit of ours. The solution to our problems is not going to lie in finding ways to extend our addiction to them for a few more months or years. The solution lies in getting off fossil fuels.
And don’t even get me started on the environmental implications of offshore drilling. Or the fact that it will take years before we actually see any of the piddling amount of oil that might be gained at the price of irreversible environmental destruction.
*temporarily stepping off soapbox*
posted by Mandy @ 10:21 AM
11 Comments:
Since most of the folks I preach to back off at heroin references, I've been using the fat man analogy.
At some point, you decide it's time to go on a diet instead of continuing to buy new pants.
Then, since most of the folks I preach to also need to lose weight, they jump me in the carpark. It's win-win.
Also, good reading here.
Okay...usually I am mute on energy/environmental issues. But with all the banter these days about both topics, I feel the need to chime in.
I am all for preserving our planet and certainly in favor of moving away from oil dependency. It just souinds like a good business move to me. BUT much like a heroin addiction there needs to be good steps in place that allow for a smooth transition to a different life. When you are talking about an energy industry (oil and alternatives included) that is a huge part of our industrial base and which supports most Americans' retirement funds (like it or not), it's not as simple as going cold turkey.
If somebody could show a fairly sensible way to move from a dependency on gas to something much more sustainable without taking 20-30 years to develop an AFFORDABLE and EFFICIENT means of allowing me to use it, I'd be the first to support it. But that hasn't happened yet and I honestly don't think even this latest debauchle over oil is going to change things all that much. Remember the 70's?
I hope I'm wrong but I doubt that anyone - especially the presidential candidates - is going to do anything more than identify an obvious problem and try to fix it with a cookie cutter solution.
Whatever...Let's all enjoy the pipe dream, shall we?
Let's just be honest Mandy...you're not stepping down off any soapbox. ;)
In any case, I wonder how long people have been "looking for solutions" to this problem with no real intention of implementing anything. If for no other more important reason, why not go for a fuel MADE FROM CORN! Do we not grow like a bazillion tons of it every year? Couldn't we not only cut our cost in fuel imports and get rid of the harmful freaking stuff but also support the farmers in the US?
I will admit that I am quite uninformed about this whole situation...so I might be completely off base. If so, feel free to let me know.
That should have read...
If for no other more important reason, why not go for a fuel MADE FROM CORN to save money?
I was obviously impassioned by my use of all caps.
There are a few problems with ethanol, although if I had to chose between that and fossil fuels, I'd say it's a step in the right direction. The main thing is that our industrialized agricultural system relies very heavily on petroleum products in a lot of ways - and not necessarily the ways that people might think. They're in the pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers that are used in abundance, and then there's the cost of processing the corn, shipping it to its destination, etc. It also doesn't really do much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Industrialized agriculture is very destructive to soil and water resources, and it's not sustainable - that's why there are more and more chemicals dumped on the crops we eat every year. Some practices that keep soil rich and keep pests and disease away from crops that worked for thousands of years have been phased out because of "better living through chemistry". And it also turns the more traditional mid- to small-sized farmer into little more than a hired worker for a large corporation. So a lot of the increased use of ethanol is helping support corporate executives and shareholders more than individual farmers. I am 100% for supporting American farmers for reasons of environmental responsibility and food security, among others, but our current system is really broken. (In my opinion...)
Then there is the effect on food prices. I don't pretend to understand the system of agricultural subsidies that we have, which again benefits large companies like Monsanto and craps all over the mid- to small-sized farm operation. But basically our government, among others, monkeys significantly with what would otherwise be the market value of staple grain crops. And by diverting lots of a major staple crop to fuel instead of food, we'd see food prices soaring and all that comes with it, including food shortages.
So...basically there will be no pain-free solution. There has been a lot of money invested in repressing alternatives to fossil fuels over the last 50 - 60 years, because a lot of people make a lot of money from our dependence on oil - foreign or domestic. So regardless of what path we choose, there are likely to be some painful changes coming. For me the issue is whether or not we're willing to think about the future and what we want to leave to our kids, or if we're going to focus on just reducing as much short-term discomfort as possible at the expense of the future.
(You're right - when it comes to some things, I live on the soapbox...)
BTW, Sarah - not implying at all that *you're* saying we \should trash the future to make today a little easier. I realized that in my pissed-off-ness at our stupid unsustainable system, it might have come across as pissed-off-ness at what you were saying. Totally not the intended direction, though. :)
Yes, I am completely and totally devestated by your comments and, that's IT! WE'RE BREAKING UP! :) As I had said before, I know NOTHING about these issues, only general info and not even much of that. So it's nice to know what may or may not be a good solution to such a big problem. No worries my friend.
The only thing that I like better than oil is whale blubber or baby seal pelts. They all can keep me warm!
I firmly believe that something akin to the Manhattan or Apollo Projects is in order to address the long-term energy needs of our country and the planet. We can do this, we just need to put some muscle (both public and private) behind it. It will require political capital, along with a long-term, sustained effort to make it happen. The big question is, will we get the answer or kill ourselves off (either through wars or environmental damage) first.
Madcity
Great post! Great discussion! :-)
Sarah, fyi, for a pretty accessible look at the problem with our over-dependence on - and misuse of - corn, rent the recent documentary "King Corn." It talks a lot about how agribusiness and farm subsidies have really damaged both American agriculture and our diet.
Mandy - on the offshore drilling thing - isn't it also true (as I think I heard) that it is only a 30 years' supply of oil that's accessible offshore??? So, is the new policy to be something that just *maybe* will keep us juiced for just a generation? Talk about short-sighted. There needs to be concurrent serious efforts to switch us over to something new.
Thomas Friedman's been quoting something a lot lately - heck, maybe he's quoting himself - saying that the Stone Age didn't end because there were no more stones. No, it ended because people found a better, more efficient alternative for tool-making. So this Fossil Fuel Age won't end until we find something new... and sadly, I don't think we're going to really be able to curb all of our usage of energy and its products (hello, plastic), especially as the emerging economies of the world start claiming bigger and bigger shares. So, we've got to find the next big thing.
Keith -- btw, insightful comments. I can see why the lady keeps you around. :-)
I think we should make fuel from garbage. Stick it in the new and improved flux capicitor...
2 cents.
stgoebel
Stef - I think that 30 years is a generous estimate for what we could hope to gain from offshore drilling. So all of that destruction, for some oil in 10 years or so. And that will only last for a few more years, assuming that global usage doesn't continue to increase between now and then. (Same thing with the North Slope of Alaska, except there's far less oil there - so more irretrievable loss for far less gain.)
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