Paying the price of our energy-burning spending spree
Driving up the Okanagan Valley today reveals a truly shocking sight: Gasoline at $1.08 per litre! Could that be $1.08 a GALLON? No, indeed it is $1.08 for every little litre pumped. And all predictions point to further increases.
So the question becomes: As shocking as that figure is, just what exactly can WE do about it?
There seems to be no shortage of plans of attack: from boycotting certain oil companies, to invading the Mid East, to separating from Ontario and Eastern Canada, to buying gas in Washington state.
But seriously now, isn't it time for a reaction from the general public? We could stop heating our homes, or we could stop driving our cars, or stop buying consumer goods that come packaged in any sort of plastic. We could start riding our bicycles and re-discover walking.
As unpleasant as the subject is for most people, the globe is changing and the seemingly endless supply of oil, is being depleted. As human beings, each and every one of us on earth burn the energy equivalent of 22 light bulbs 24 hours a day, every day. And usage is increasing, not decreasing.
Forget the conspiracy theories, it's time to pursue alternative energy in earnest. That can include peddle power, solar, wind power (drive along Highway 3 through Southern Alberta these days and count the hundreds of wind turbines), biomass, nuclear and plasma. Unfortunately each of these comes with a down side that the public is quick to rally against. However, we are going to soon face the fact that one of these forms will be the next big energy source and we will have no choice but to embrace it (as we have fossil fuels despite their substantial down side.)rnChanging the habits of generations of fossil fuel burners won't be easy, but it is inevitable. It's time to think about the impact each and every one of us has. Plug it in and turn it on might soon not be as easy at it sounds! But the alternative will take a widescale social and political dedication.
