How did our oil get under their sand? We are strategic dunderheads. The best defense we can have is to become energy independent (and to quit importing crap from China). Our oil policy has cost this country trillions of dollars, massive debt, thousands upon thousands of lives...perhaps millions over the years. Many of them our own citizens/troops. To become fuel self sufficient doesn't mean burning fossil fuels, fracking or making ethanol from food products...it means R&D into fusion (should be on line by now), photovoltaics on every roof with solar exposure (we, personally, are energy self sufficient with PV since 1984), decentralization of our energy production, wind, wave...things we haven't heard of yet. We are America...let's think of the future, or we will surely perish either by fouling our nest beyond habitability or by blowing the world to smithereens. We would also be able to have 100% employment, as well.
Think people. Invest in the future...our grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren.
Design our communities with community in mind, not the automobile...people need connections. Cooperation, civility, celebration.
Let's face it. This nation was not built on love and hope and equality, it was forged from blood, oil, extraction, genocide, slavery,...
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http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2008/11/27/the-church-of-stop-shopping/ Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the Church of Stop Shopping on...
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We're all frogs in the water in this country to some extent...unable to see the world from other perspectives, believing we are the be ...
3 comments:
I realize this has nothing to do with the current post, although I could have it be so...
Sometimes I sit here like a cat watching the ticker at the top of your page scrolling by waiting for something to pop up that I want to read or think I ought to know about - and now that I'm so cut off having been without a television since September which is also how we got our radio I have to work harder (so here's how I tie it in)...
I was looking for more Black Friday news on a broader scope than what might just pop up on my home screen.
like a cat watching a fish tank.
PV has some problems specifically in the resources it requires to manufacture and then also batteries. How do you address these problems. (fyi since you don't know me, I tend to address energy issues as use less, use less and use less which people don't tend to like but I love your line "how did our oil get under their sand" -- made me laugh)
I agree with use less, much less. Also use the most efficient technologies available for appliances, etc. We have a sunfrost freezer/refrigerator made in Arcata, California...using a fraction of the power to run of other 'energy efficient' refrig/freezers.
Lead-acid batteries are the environmental success story of our time. More than 97 percent of all battery lead is recycled. Compared to 55% of aluminum soft drink and beer cans, 45% of newspapers, 26% of glass bottles and 26% of tires, lead-acid batteries top the list of the most highly recycled consumer product.
The lead-acid battery gains its environmental edge from its closed-loop life cycle. The typical new lead-acid battery contains 60 to 80 percent recycled lead and plastic. When a spent battery is collected, it is sent to a permitted recycler where, under strict environmental regulations, the lead and plastic are reclaimed and sent to a new battery manufacturer. The recycling cycle goes on indefinitely. That means the lead and plastic in the lead-acid battery in your car, truck, boat or motorcycle have been - and will continue to be -- recycled many, many times. This makes lead-acid battery disposal extremely successful from both environmental and cost perspectives.
As for environmental impact of photovoltaic technology we have to consider the life cycle from raw material, mining, production, conversion of sunlight to electricity, and decommissioning. Here's the Life Cycle Analysis from Europe, I won't go into depth on it...submitted for your reading pleasure. When comparing PV to oil, for example, or nuclear...remember to take all LCA information into consideration. Wars for oil, the environmental devastation and lives ruined need to be inserted into that equation...Nuclear fission decommissioning still hasn't been figured out, not to mention Cherynobyl or Fukushima.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...is often quoted as a mantra. I would place the emphasis on Reduce, reduce, reduce...reuse, reuse, reuse, reuse...then recycle.
http://www.gbltrends.com/doc/Environmental%20impact%20of%20PV%20tech.pdf
Our home is made of native materials gleaned from this land. Our energy use is minimal, even though we live in simple elegance. It can be done.
I submit also a documentary film, "First Earth, uncompromising ecological architecture" for your viewing pleasure. On this page it is broken into 12 parts, short and sweet. Enjoy.
http://permaculture-media-download.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-earth-uncompromising-ecological.html
We need a paradigm shift in thinking. It will happen, whether it is with us kicking and screaming toward a Kunstler, "World Made by Hand", or we transition into living locally, sustainably, with a small footprint...and time for community, cooperation, civility, compassion and celebration.
I've chosen the latter. We've been on this land, in this house, for nearly 3 decades.
Thanks for your comments.
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