As my readers know, I lost my job this past winter, and so I've been doing some soul-searching about what I should do next. I haven't figured it all out, but I know that I want the next chapter of my life to involve promoting sustainable ways of living.I've been spending my time-off learning about a variety of environmental issues to see where I might fit, and it has really reinforced for me the importance -- and inevitability -- of radically changing the way we live.
Most people know about climate change, but what's scarier to me is the coming energy crisis we're facing as oil runs out. Some scientists think we've reached "peak oil" -- meaning from now on, we'll be producing less and less oil, of decreasing quality, for higher and higher cost (just think of the cost of off-shore drilling compared to land-drillling). The scary thing is, there isn't anything that can really replace oil. Yes, there are alternative energy sources -- but none are nearly as efficient as oil in terms of energy output.
When we first discovered oil, we could get 100 units of energy for every one unit we spent producing it. Alternative fuels can't get anywhere close to that. In other words, even if all of these new technologies -- wind power, solar power, biofuels, etc. -- were put to maximum use tomorrow, and all the infrastructure was there, we still couldn't generate as much energy as we do with oil. The fact is, we are going to have less energy available to use in the future.
On top of that, we will be facing more unpredictable climates and dwindling natural resources -- since we are steadily consuming more of everything (trees, clean water, minerals) than can be regenerated. The best thing we can do is become proactive and start transitioning to a less energy and resource-intensive way of life now -- before we no longer have a choice.
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