My comments to this article:



"Okay, so you’ve taken the moderate position on this "problem". Others want to be extreem on either side of the issue. Nevertheless, the real issue is being ignored: 1st World Countries are using too much of a non-renewable resource. The shortages, and problems this will lead to, maybe not today or tomorrow–or this decade–will be real and globally painful. Beyond wind generators and solar power we need to begin to solve this shortage issue–to send a message, like you said, to the oil producers–perhaps they will drop prices; but that only works for a while–even oil producers are up against fixed costs.



How can we send this message and what will it be? Should we all switch to hybird cars? Quite possibly. But there are other solutions–using used vegetable oil from restaurants to power desiel vehicles is a start (frybird.com). Perhaps, today, don’t drive so much. Stop waiting for the outcome to cry foul. Reduce your number of trips to WalBobs or the MiniMart now, not when things get worse–they already are worse.



If you want to make more of an impact, start looking for local sources for your foods and other household items. Why pay, both in increased product cost and global costs, to have a sofa from the other side of the country? Or beets? Or carrots from China? Someone in your neck of the woods is growing carrots, beets and a whole lot more. Start going to Farmer’s Markets and supporting the locals. If enough people do this then the money stays in the community and your neighbor begins to travel less, and their neighbor and so on. I’m not suggesting that everything we use can be found within 100 mile of us, but that by shopping as locally as we can. By reducing transportation times and costs, every individual can have a global impact by reducing fuel consumption. This winter, find a local craftsperson and spend a few extra dollars to buy a nice thick sweater from locally grown wool. Then keep the thermostat at 68 degrees during the day. At night drop it to 65 or 60.  If Chicken Little had had any sense he would have pause for a moment, surveyed what his position was and cornered the market on falling acorns. The Sky-is-falling position is fear mongering and never leads to a solution in time."



This article on the true cost of producing our nations’s food, mentioned in the above referenced article,  is also well worth a read.


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