The Millennial Files

Coping with the Energy Crisis and Global Warming

Well, sheee —– it. After all this time predicting global warming was something we really needed to pay attention to, and we should try to prevent, now it’s all come true. And how does our Prez respond? By informing us that we Americans are “addicted to oil.” While we do bear collective responsibility, is it really ALL OUR FAULT? Are we REALLY addicted in the true sense of of word, or dependent because there are no other options? I am sure I joined many people this winter when I opted to burn wood in my fireplace, which I knew was a particulate pollutant, because I, like many other working class people, could not afford to heat our home with natural gas at $200 a month.

President Bush’s proposal from his State of the Union address, that cut our oil imports by 75% in twenty years is misleading at best, and deceitful at worst. In truth, we only import 60% of our oil from the Persian Gulf, and if we reduce that by 75%, it only amount to an overall reduction of about 10%. And that’s only talking about importing — not using. I, like a lot of others misunderstood the George W.’s words and thought he was talking about reducing 75% of our dependence on oil in twenty years. But that is laughable considering even T. Boone Pickens , thinks we will deplete world oil reserves in less than half that time.

So most of what we got  from the SOTU was a bunch of empty words. Quite a few years ago, I took on the philosphy, if not one will take care of me, then I must take care of me. So it is with those of us must live in this environment. Until we have an administration willing to face the facts about global warming, we must do what we can to ensure our independence from fossil fuel energy and industries.

In addition to insulating the windows of my house and monitoring how much energy we use as a family, I just purchased a Honda Civic Hybrid that gets 50 mpg., You can imagne how great it feels to be finally be able to get by on spending $10 a week on gas instead of $40. My next step is to try to get on board with the Million Solar Roof program here in California. Given the slippery slope and dire straits many experts are claiming we are now on and in, that will still not be enough to stop global warming, but it will give me more control in how my family lives.

As to the big picutre, we must all in addition to our own personal strategies for energy independence, encourage, support and push our municipalities to develop and use green energy, and then we must support and encourage legislation that forces commercial entities to do the same. It won’t be easy, and probably even frustrating at several steps and stages along the way, but considering the consequences, doing anything less would be shameful.