I came across an interesting article in the New York Times today contrasting how Denmark and the United States have pursued energy policy since the 1970s. Here is a great excerpt from the article:
Unlike America, Denmark, which was so badly hammered by the 1973 Arab oil embargo that it banned all Sunday driving for a while, responded to that crisis in such a sustained, focused and systematic way that today it is energy independent. (And it didn’t happen by Danish politicians making their people stupid by telling them the solution was simply more offshore drilling.)
It is encouraging to see articles like this that indicate the United States is finally waking up to the reality that we need to transition away from fossil fuels in order to secure a prosperous future.
Tonight, a good friend sent this article about Obama’s vision for making Nevada a major renewable energy producer. I went to high school in Nevada up at Lake Tahoe, and I still visit my family there whenever I have the opportunity. It is great to hear that Obama, who Strive for green is enthusiastically rooting for, sees the potential for Nevada to become a major part of future US energy independence.
In the article, I really liked reading this statement from Obama:
“When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to go put a man on the moon, he didn’t put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win,” Obama said. “He put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people, not just in the private sector but also in the public sector.”
At the end of the article, there is a mention that the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is placing a 22 month moratorium on any further solar development on its lands in order to do environmental assessments. I’m all for making sure sensitive land is protected, but 22 months!? I
Maybe the moratorium is the work of the Bush appointed director of the BLM Jim Caswell - based on information found during a quick search, he is not the type of guy you would expect to be friendly to alternative energy projects. Maybe its for “good” reasons, but at the same time there have been no shortage of ill-intentioned environmental acts under the Bush administration.
In any case, Strive for green can’t waint for Obama to win!
Browsing the SF Chronicle’s home page today, I noticed a headline titled “Doomsayers predict new world oil crunch” in spot #7 of the Most Read articles section.
I was immediately skeptical given the fact that the word “new” was used in the title! As it turns out, the article is from August 31st, 1998! A striking line reads: “Based on a controversial theory, they fear world oil demand will begin to exceed supply as early as about 2010.”
One topic I will discuss often on this blog is our relationship with fossil fuels and how we can strive to live our lives in such a way that minimizes our reliance on them.
Fossil fuels are the backbone of US agriculture - they create fertilizers, pesticides, power farm equipment, and transport the average produce item on your plate 1,500 miles from where it was grown. Believe it or not, Avocados from Chile are only made possible by relatively cheap fossil fuel enabled supply chains. Given massively increasing demand for fossil fuels worldwide and the fact global oil production is about to start decreasing, oil prices are going to increase A LOT in coming years. And with increased oil prices, the systems that depend on cheap oil most, like transporting agricultural goods long distances, are going to change out of simple necessity and economic pressure.
Ten years from now when faced with the purchasing decision of choosing a $1 locally grown pound of apples or a $30 Avocado from Chile, I think most of us will choose the apples no matter how bad we crave the Avocado. Locally grown food is simply going to make far more economic sense when shipping costs have doubled, tripled, or more. Also, for all of you environmentalists out there with what I call “global warming tunnel-vision,” local agriculture is incredibly less carbon intensive!
Another positive element of urban and local agriculture is that it builds real community! Suburban America is about as un-community based as you can get and I think the massive proliferation of online social networking tools like myspace and facebook ardently demonstrate this fact. People simply feel disconnected, and are trying to find community anywhere they can. I love peace and solitude but I’ll admit I am guilty too as I have spent countless hours on facebook trying to feel “connections” when I could have simply gone to a park and talked to real flesh and blood people! Local and urban agriculture build the basis of real community: interdependent groups of people who have a vested interest in their future.
I often worry what will happen when necessity and economics force us to quickly adapt to local and urban agriculture, but videos like this give me real hope:
