And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil.
George W. Bush, State of the Union 2006
So, tell me: when one is addicted to something, what is the solution? Is it, as George, most Republicans, and a dismaying range of Democrats (including the bizarrely canonized Barack Obama) believe — supplying more of the substance to the addicted party?
Or is the solution to remove the substance entirely, go through the withdrawal, and then to a better life on the other side of that difficult weaning period?
Therapists often classify patients with chemical dependencies as either interested or not interested in changing. Treatments usually involve planning for specific ways to avoid the addictive stimulus, and therapeutic interventions intended to help a client learn healthier ways to find satisfaction.
Wikipedia
We all know that George W. Bush is an addict; his admission of alcoholism is one of the only times he has ever been forthright about anything. One has to wonder, therefore, about his sobriety in light of his opinion that the treatment for an addiction is to search and search for more of the addicting substance.
We need to wean our country off oil. So let’s drill to find more. I swear, this is one of those ridiculous situations where people are plainly stupid, where they manage to hold two contradictory statements in their head and reconcile them as if it were all common sense. We need to use less oil! Let’s drill for more! Brilliant!
I’m firmly of the opinion that we need oil prices to go much higher. We’ve begun a national — no, a global dialogue; we’ve all begun to tighten our belts, drive less, and learn how to deal with the situation. But easing off on prices now means that people will slide back into old behaviors. I mean, I drive to work every day because it is still cheaper than taking public transport (not that there is any useful transport to my office, sadly). I still haven’t reached the point where it hurts enough to change.
This is, however, devastating to lots of people who are paid far less than I am but pay the same amount for gas, groceries, and energy. Lowering the price of gas will help them in the very short term, but make it far worse later. No, what we need is to take the initiative to create new energy infrastructure, using what’s left of the oil (and those huge, disgusting oil company profits) to set the stage for the end of oil. Stop using food to create fuel and instead use waste. One day’s worth of oil company profits would put solar panels on an entire neighborhood. Spend some of that money designing more efficient batteries and put them into cars. If someone would bring out a decent, non-flashy electric car or a vehicle like the proposed Chevy Volt, I’d be first in line. But they don’t exist. Still.
From government to industry, no one is offering mainstream alternatives to the status quo. Where are those hydrogen cars were have been promised forever? Have you ever seen a hydrogen fueling station? Corporations love to tout what’s coming 10 years from now, but every year it’s still 10 years away. It’s all PR while they continue to maximize whatever profits they can make today without a thought to tomorrow. I’m still waiting for the brilliant, common-sense oil company CEO who realizes that his company should be plowing all that profit into being the first to develop a new source of energy… so they can make huge profits in the future energy economy. None of these companies seem to think that the world will go on after, say, the next 20 years. So why bother?
Here are a few little ideas gleaned from the past that might help in small ways. A freebie for industry.
- Stop putting sodas in big plastic bottles. The cans are great, and very recyclable. But ditch the plastic for 12 ounce glass bottles like in 1962 when greasers hung out with a Coke on the corner looking cool.
- Stop putting stupid little plastic spouts on paperboard cartons. There was nothing wrong with the old way of opening the top of the paper carton and bending it to form a spout. It was easier to open, at least. The new plastic spout ends up having three pieces of plastic that end up in the garbage.
- Stop wrapping my newspaper in plastic to protect it from the sprinklers. Instead, why not try getting the paper on my porch instead of in the middle of the lawn?
- Stop building things with planned obsolescence. In the three years I’ve lived in my little 1937 bungalow, I’ve had 3 different telephone systems, made mostly of plastic. All of them failed in about a year. I recently installed a 1930s Western Electric telephone (made almost entirely of metal) and it still works fine 70 years after it was manufactured.
- Stop wrapping every damned thing in plastic. Especially that rigid plastic that cuts the hell out of you when you try to force your way into it.
- Blah, blah, blah.
There’s something to be said for common sense, and while I love technological advances, the majority of “advances” in consumer products and packaging is wasteful and silly. I’m not saying we should have milk delivered every day in bottles, but imagine how much plastic would be saved if they stopped putting those stupid plastic pull-tab-and-screw-on-cap spouts on paper milk cartons.
Anyway. Have an addictive day.
