We hold these [Inconvenient] truths to be self-evident . . .
May 22nd, 2008 by Jesse Moore
I had occasion to be on a plane recently – my large frame stuck on a small prop plane made a little easier thanks to my iPod and the latest edition of WIRED magazine. My grandfather used to subscribe to POPULAR SCIENCE and POPULAR MECHANICS, and I think WIRED is a more relevant version of those magazines. I enjoy the features on emerging technologies and every issue has a very well-researched journalistic piece on the humanity behind technology: from murders originating on MySpace to intense rivalries ending in personal tragedy, each article seems to be a warning of what can happen when people spend more time developing their home theatre system than their character.
The most recent cover of WIRED magazine is a warning to environmentalists, and I recommend that everyone give it a read. What WIRED uncovers is going to fly in the face of the environmental movement, but perhaps those actually concerned with saving our earth will swallow their pride and start modifying their protest speeches. I don’t want to steal the thunder from the article, so let me just wet your attention with a list of a few things that we should be doing to protect our planet – things that have been the whipping boys of the environmentalist movement. As the article is entitled, these really are “Inconvenient Truths”:
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Live in the city – the larger the better.
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Organic foods will kill our planet faster.
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It’s more effective to treat forests like crops.
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We should be building more nuclear power plants.
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Buy a used car instead of a Prius.
Great post and link, Jesse. There are some really excellent arguments in the article - specifically about the need to treat forests as crops. But I think the article was a bit shortsighted in other areas. For instance, if the point is to lower our carbon footprint and impact of CO2 emissions, how exactly does buying a used car help? The CO2 spent to build the vehicle has already been produced… the original owner has already burned all the fuel from purchase to sale… so really all you are doing is compounding the issue. Like the quip about urban living suggests: it’s better to bike, walk, or take public modes of transportation.
So how was lovely Miles City this past weekend? Did you get a chance to go to the Bucking Horse Sale? Ciao.
I loved the article. I think a lot of what is posted makes sense to me. I continue to be frustrated by our governments “head in the sand” approach to our energy problems. As unfortuante as it is, our nation is based upon fossil fuel consumption. No one can waive a magic wand and make it go away. We are going to need oil for the next 20+ years. What will be the price of gas then?? We haven’t built a refinery in 30 years and we have numberous oil fields just waiting to be tapped. I don’t want to increase global warming but I also want to be able to eat, work, travel, not to mention any recreational activities. All of which are directly affected by gas prices.
Here is one last thing to chew on, if car makers today produce a nongasoline nonC02 emitting auto, who will be able buy it. Well it is simple economics. The cost of the auto will be higher (due lack of efficiencies and recouping research costs) and thus only the rich will be able to buy it. This leaves the middle class and poor still paying for high gas prices. So even if this auto comes out next year it could be 3 to 5 years before the majority of Americans can even afford to buy it. And even then Semi trucks, oil heated homes, plastics, among other things still will require petroleum. Thus my only conclusion is to drill and build refineries now before our recession turns into a depression.
Gas prices will go down again but not for awhile. US production of oil is finally on the upswing. Many of the older fields still contain large pockets of oil/gas but were at such depths that extraction was very costly. Now those same fields are being uncapped and the crude is beginning to flow. That said, we still need to figure out ways to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. Hydrogen based fuel systems are great but not very popular. Iceland is the only nation that has an active hydrogen fueling system in place and that mainly for public transit systems. Experts don’t really expect to see a hydrogen based fueling system in the US for at least another 50 years (NOVA - Car of the Future). For the time being, the only truly eco friendly car is the Tesla Roadster… at a whopping $109,000. Like Luck said, only the truly wealthy can afford it.
As you all may very well know the price of oil just went up $11 to $138 today. They are predicting the cost of oil will be $200 per barrel by Christmas. This would mean $6/gal plus THIS YEAR!!! I don’t know even if we can even prevent a oil crisis from occuring. I am thinking about testing my backyard to see if I have any oil pockets I could tap into. Between cost of oil, forclosures, and the stagnant housing market. Lets just pray that something amazing will happen because the near future looks bleaker by the day.