Conservation

We appreciate the access to cheap energy we enjoy, gas stations on every corner, natural gas electricity, (and water) plumbed to every home, it is certainly easy here in the US to be a resource consumer. We believe in a market economy, that consumers will make better choices with better knowledge and appreciation of the real cost (and value) of the resources used.

We believe that "better choices" are intertwined with conservation. We believe that as consumers we are not educated enough in the value (and cost) of energy.

The hydrocarbon molecule is an extremely power packed, the economy of the world is powered by it, and a global change to that truth will take many decades of investment in research and development as well as behavioral change. These changes can/will occur as a result of (or should to occur in spite of) economic pressures.

We need to continue to explore, but we also need to continue to be more efficient. Energy independence is a lofty and unrealistic goal. Reducing our reliance on alien sources of energy is a far more realistic goal, for our national and economic security. We believe the barrel of oil we do not use today is the cheapest "discovered" reserves that there are.

The danger in developing or encouraging or providing cheap resources is that they are not valued (ie, if the price of gasoline was $1 per gallon, our useage would not have decreased this year....). We argue for more efficient use of cheap energy.

Conservation just isn't popular, but it is a big key item. Conservation doesn't raise much money (save the earth) and doesn't have a bad guy (big oil), because conservation is something we each, as individuals must commit to. Look in the mirror to find blame, there is plenty to go around.

A common topic in this blog will be about our use of resources, and ideas to moderate that use, from our lives, from our observations, in our world.