Index

Surviving Beyond the Carbon Society, Part 1

Since the Gulf of Mexico is about to become a large, sterile memorial to our oil addiction, perhaps it is time to take a look at what we really need to do to break our dependence on fossil fuels, not only as a nation, but as a planet.  This is more of a social problem than a technological one - a large amount of the technology and other resources are already available, we just need to apply them.

Like any good twelve-step program requires, we first have to admit we have a problem.  The oil and coal companies, as well as the many other groups with an economic interest in the fossil fuel-based economy, really don’t want this to happen, because it threatens their fat cash cow.  Most of the existing national governments have a vested interest in maintaining fossil resource-based economies; Russia, for instance, has a direct government ownership of Gazprom.

Since the current crop of world “leaders” is stuck in the Carbon Society, it means that the burden of actually creating change falls to “the people” - the mass of individuals on this planet who are paying for the privilege of having their existences threatened or destroyed.  The only way to do this is through education, a task which has been handled by the governments in most first-world countries, but which now must fall on NGOs and individuals.  Where in theory the governments of democratically-run countries would handle this task, the direct conflict of interest mentioned above is almost certainly going to prevent any real advances there.  Some European nations have actually at least partially embraced some of the needed educational advances, but these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

The silver lining in the Gulf of Mexico disaster is that it may force a wider recognition of the reality of the short-sighted destruction that is the Carbon Society, if only for a short time and for a small group of people.  If it actually creates a wider awareness, then it is up to those of us who already realize the importance of the issue to use it to further the education of the public.

So, Step 1:  Admit we have a problem.

That is an easy one, believe it or not.