Thursday
Jul102008
Non-update, update: Pick Pickens Plan?
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 12:00PM
Face it - we need oil. The president said we were "addicted" to it. The world knows it. And now - it's starting to get expensive - making everything we have and do more expensive - because so little of it is sans oil in one of it's many forms.
So now - in the spirit of all Americans - people like T. Boone Pickens and others are starting to seriously look to do more than talk about our options for independence... and ensure future generations experience continued prosperity.
I'm neither advocating or dismissing the Pickens Plan - I'm posting about it because we have continued to monitor our wind potential here on our farm and also looked at solar options - not to be a tree hugger - but to help the country become independent of oil - by making our piece of the country free of oil. (Thus far the jury still out with the data so far - but that's just here...) There are massive known yet untapped wind resources in the heart of our country and off our shores. Is it finally time to seriously adopt a national energy policy that taps those, or the multitude of other domestic resources that sit idle, to make this country more energy independent?
Wouldn't (all specifics of how it gets done aside) it be great if this country could come up with a comprehensive plan that would shift the real balance of power in the world away from the oil production centers - and allow us, as a country, to focus on the things that should really matter for our future prosperity - education, technology, safe foods, strong communities (just to name a few).
As I talk to people about the current state of affairs it seems everyone believes that this great country is in a state of decline - and we are bound to that destiny (which is sad in the land that one believed in Manifest destiny). Where is the innovation - the passion - the excitement - all those basic traits that made the US the most prosperous country in the history of the world - where did it all go? Instead it's replaced by apathy, anger, frustration - and the most sinister of all - the belief that we are all victims.
We all consume oil - then are "innocent" victims of it's escalating price - yet we are too apathetic to take action to change our consumption habits - or to take action in other ways to alter the rising costs - like http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/. Instead - we bemoan rising prices - say we can't do anything about it - point the fingers at the middlemen, call it "Big Oil" because it sounds threatening (it is "big" after all) - and do absolutely nothing... all the while using our air conditioner, in our big house, eating food shipped from around the globe, while watching news about oil prices on our new flat screen TV... playing the victim.
I'm happy I'm afforded those luxuries - and wouldn't want to give a single one of them up. The history of this country gave me the lifestyle I wouldn't trade for any other in the world. But the people that brought us here also understood that when things needed to change - when the tough decisions were at had - it meant there were sacrifices. It meant there was hard work to be done. It meant the status quo wasn't good enough anymore and Americans needed to rise up to conquer another obstacle.
There was a warning issued by writer John Steinbeck that summaries our current state of affairs: "We now face the danger that has in the past been the most destructive to humans; success, plenty, comfort and ever increasing leisure. No dynamic people has ever survived these dangers."
If you don't like the state of the price of oil, or the environment, or anything else - it's time, NOW, to use some of the leisure time you are afforded by our countries prosperity - to make tomorrow better than if it was just left alone. Create something for a change.
So now - in the spirit of all Americans - people like T. Boone Pickens and others are starting to seriously look to do more than talk about our options for independence... and ensure future generations experience continued prosperity.
Wouldn't (all specifics of how it gets done aside) it be great if this country could come up with a comprehensive plan that would shift the real balance of power in the world away from the oil production centers - and allow us, as a country, to focus on the things that should really matter for our future prosperity - education, technology, safe foods, strong communities (just to name a few).
As I talk to people about the current state of affairs it seems everyone believes that this great country is in a state of decline - and we are bound to that destiny (which is sad in the land that one believed in Manifest destiny). Where is the innovation - the passion - the excitement - all those basic traits that made the US the most prosperous country in the history of the world - where did it all go? Instead it's replaced by apathy, anger, frustration - and the most sinister of all - the belief that we are all victims.
We all consume oil - then are "innocent" victims of it's escalating price - yet we are too apathetic to take action to change our consumption habits - or to take action in other ways to alter the rising costs - like http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/. Instead - we bemoan rising prices - say we can't do anything about it - point the fingers at the middlemen, call it "Big Oil" because it sounds threatening (it is "big" after all) - and do absolutely nothing... all the while using our air conditioner, in our big house, eating food shipped from around the globe, while watching news about oil prices on our new flat screen TV... playing the victim.
I'm happy I'm afforded those luxuries - and wouldn't want to give a single one of them up. The history of this country gave me the lifestyle I wouldn't trade for any other in the world. But the people that brought us here also understood that when things needed to change - when the tough decisions were at had - it meant there were sacrifices. It meant there was hard work to be done. It meant the status quo wasn't good enough anymore and Americans needed to rise up to conquer another obstacle.
There was a warning issued by writer John Steinbeck that summaries our current state of affairs: "We now face the danger that has in the past been the most destructive to humans; success, plenty, comfort and ever increasing leisure. No dynamic people has ever survived these dangers."
If you don't like the state of the price of oil, or the environment, or anything else - it's time, NOW, to use some of the leisure time you are afforded by our countries prosperity - to make tomorrow better than if it was just left alone. Create something for a change.
tagged conservation, family, power, sustainability in Farm Life
conservation, family, power, sustainability in Farm Life
Reader Comments (1)
There is a public Forum for discussions about Pickens plan :
http://www.pickensenergyplan.com" REL="nofollow">www.pickensenergyplan.com
Cheers.