It’s a bizarre situation that, years into this conflict and over thirty years into the “energy crisis,” you can still hear folks rationalizing their waste by saying, “I can’t be expected to (walk to the store, garden at home, drive a fuel efficient car, use solar or green energy), because it’s (hot, cold, inconvenient, or Saturday, it takes planning, or it requires me to slice vegetables instead of ordering pizza), and that wouldn’t be easy.” AAAGH! Exactly how inflated is your sense of self-importance that it could allow you to think you are better than the countless American children, sons, wives, husbands, and daughters currently being shot at every day overseas? That you should not have to overcome your desire to drive a gas hog, while in exchange our children pay the ultimate price? It’s then I realize that most Americans don’t understand the huge connection between what they do at home and what happens overseas.
from altenergymag.com in 2006
The biggest culprit in this saga is rarely mentioned: the person we see in the mirror.
We continue to be sheep when it comes to the latest gas-guzzling monstrosity-traveling apartments we call campers, Hummers, every imaginable off-the-road conveyance, regardless of the pollution they cause.
We complain about the price of gas and yet sit in the drive-through of our favorite fast-food joint for 20 minutes with engines idling. We stand in line for hours to buy our kids the latest electronic gadgets, yet won’t take them hiking to enjoy the beauty of this land and to see what our profligate ways are destroying.
I know the argument. I can afford it. The bigger question is should you? Buying toys and gadgets that harm the environment is nothing but a selfish ego trip.
Blame all the others you like, but our insatiable appetite for oil and all its byproducts is as much to blame for the failure of Deepwater Horizon as any government or business. Pogo had it right; We have met the enemy and he is us
Big Oil
from Orlando Sentinel 6-28-10
Leave a Reply