Letter to the Editor
Earth Day
Published Sunday, April 27, 2008
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Stumble It!April 23, 2008
To the editor:
Earth Day 2008. Where are we? Oil dictates geopolitics.
Though the U.S. government has done its best since the 1970s to cover up the growing energy crisis, the current cost of energy makes it evident to all. Even the oil companies admit to the crisis and are developing scenarios to survive. We can no longer deny the depletion of fossil fuel that fed the energy intoxification of the 20th century.
Our political leaders believe the American public will not make the lifestyle changes required to reduce energy use. They are unwilling to risk their position of power to convey the ugly truth. They hope for a technological breakthrough in hydrogen, fusion or some other perpetual clean energy instead of leading the country in a safer, more sustainable direction.
As most of the world slides over the cliff, a minority enjoy the party, drunk on oil and ignore the coming hangover. The party has brought us energy depletion, eco-devastation and over-population — a critical mass of problems arising from outstripping our resources. Our choices range from a smooth transition to a less energy intensive lifestyle to utter chaos leading to those four famous horsemen: Famine, pestilence, war and death.
Would you be willing to cut fuel use now to provide a softer landing for your children? Many European countries have done so without regret. Why are Americans twice as fuelish as other developed countries? Are we twice as greedy or has the public been mislead as to the seriousness of the crisis? Do we want to prolong the addiction or err on the conservative side and start fighting our addiction now?
Reducing energy consumption will lessen many related problems such as pollution, climate change, obesity, ecosystem destruction and possibly the pace of our incredibly frenetic lives! Certainly animosity toward the U.S. will decrease.
We are all in one lifeboat and must share resources and pull in unison to survive. As Alaskans used to say, without oil we will freeze in the dark. Voice, and vote, your concerns. Support planning policy and legislation that will prepare us to face this challenge.
Community Discussion
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So, what are you doing Ms Koepf? Are you walking and biking everywhere? Are you living in a yurt? Are you dining on bean sprouts and tofu? Or are you just another preacher, full of useless hot air?
I say, for the sake of the children (always a good liberal catch all emotive phrase), that we develop new energy. Sure, we can, and should, conserve, but in order to survive, we will need some energy. Sorry! Fact of life! And the sooner that those of your stident environmentalism school get out of the way, the better off the rest of us will be.
Have a great day...
*We can no longer deny the depletion of fossil fuel that fed the energy intoxification of the 20th century.*
Depletion?
Have you actually seen a shortage of oil lately that was not the result of War, Union Strikes, Mechanical Failure of Equipment, Weather related, or politically motivated (OPEC, production limits)?
Keep dreaming there is no more a shortage than the politcally created artificial shortages of oil that happened in the seventies (embargo).
Had it not been for environmentalist promoted protests in the seventies alot of energy production today would be coming from hydro electric dams and a high percentage of Nuclear power.
The USA still has an abundant amounts of untapped energy that would reduce our dependence yet there are still people that will throw one legal battle after another to prevent getting access to it.
The current Climate change SCAM is another example of what's really causing the energy crisis.
I don't deny that we may be warming, many of us don't, but I also know that this isn't the first time the earth has been through a warming spell. The warming spell itself has more to do with measured releases of CO2 in the atmosphere not man and is not the cause of the warming. It is the result.
No matter how much we attempt to reduce our CO2 it will not stop climate change, period.
"Liberal" (and the use of said word as an epithet) is my personal favorite conservative emotive catch-all phrase!
Glacierles,
By "new energy" do you mean new kinds of energy or are you advocating for the development of ANWR and the like?
Far be it from me to advocate any normal source of energy like oil exploration in the US, or nuclear. I'm not that radical.
I'm talking about liberal hamsters as an untapped source of energy. Probably enough energy there to run a home, albeit a small one. And methane, of course.
Why so snippy g'les? Your original post was not clear and I was trying to understand what you were saying.
Right...
Usually.
Here are some links worth investigating for those who think the oil crisis isn't real:
A preview of Hubbert's Peak by petroleum geologist Kenneth Deffeyes:
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...
An abstract of the GAO report on peak oil, with links to fuller versions:
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.ph...
A review of Twilight in the Desert from Businessweek:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/con...
And Wikipedia has links to countless articles and studies exploring both sides of the controversy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
Judge for yourselves, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for oil prices to come down. Production is at its peak right now, and can't keep up.
Glacierles: It's unfortunate that you can only respond to this letter with a slew of childish responses. I know for a fact that Ms. Koepf rides her bike year round and takes many other steps to lighten her impact on the planet. What are you doing to make this world better? If you can't offer reasoned, intelligent thoughts why waste your time? It is possible to critique someone else's ideas without being rude.
Glacierles, I too actually know Ms. Koepf and she rides her bicycle to/from work (even in the winter) and around town. She also has an awesome garden that provides food during the summer months.
I'm sure that the writer of the letter is a wonderful person.
I keep forgetting that only those who think appropriate thoughts are allowed to use sarcasm and/or exaggeration. The rest of us are just meanies.
Now about those 4 Horsemen of the Apocolypse. Oh wait, I forgot, that's acceptable. Your thoughts are for the good of us all, especially the children (whom, people not in agreement with you must therefore be against).
Well, I am not convinced that evil consumption driven Americans will be the cause of worldwide devastation. To the contrary, our ability to advance technology will be a huge part of future solutions, IMHO. (And lest you jump to any conclusions that would tarnish my reputation, or get me in trouble with the thought police, I DO believe in energy conservation.)
I get kind of tired of self-righteous do gooders that feel compelled to run my life. "nonpartisan", heal thyself.
From the GAO study:
Admits they really don't know how much oil is still in the ground.
The amount of oil remaining in the ground is highly uncertain, in part because the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controls most of the estimated world oil reserves, but its estimates of reserves are not verified by independent auditors. In addition, many parts of the world have not yet been fully explored for oil.
Other important sources of uncertainty about future oil production are potentially unfavorable political and investment conditions in countries where oil is located. For example, more than 60 percent of world oil reserves, on the basis of Oil and Gas Journal estimates, are in countries where relatively unstable political conditions could constrain oil exploration and production.
Studies that predict the timing of a peak use different estimates of how much oil remains in the ground, and these differences explain some of the wide ranges of these predictions. Estimates of how much oil remains in the ground are highly uncertain because much of these data are self-reported and unverified by independent auditors; many parts of the world have yet to be fully explored for oil; and there is no comprehensive assessment of oil reserves from nonconventional sources. This uncertainty surrounding estimates of oil resources in the ground comprises the uncertainty surrounding estimates of proven reserves10 as well as uncertainty surrounding expected increases in these reserves and estimated future oil discoveries.
If hydrocarbons are renewable- then is "Peak Oil" a fraud?
by Joel Bainerman
http://321energy.com/editorials/bainerma...
A question:
Why does the thought of taking care of the planet piss you off?
Sorry. Should have said 'so many people' instead of 'you'.
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