We Can't Un-Ring a Bell

36 Days after the explosion and demise of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, oil and natural gas are flowing into one of the most significant marine and esturine environments in the world.  This may end up as the biggest "wake-up call" in human history, to change our energy production and consumption patterns.  While there may well be negligence on the part of a big petroleum company involved, the real cause is our human and indeed American greed for fossil fuels.  To date we have been unwilling to make the investments necessary to replace fossil fuels with cleaner and renewable sources of energy.  The resulting devastation, to both our environment and economies, should be unconcionable to us all. 

The costs associated with cleanup efforts and resolutions for this, the Exxon Valdez and similar events, would fund major implementations of solar, wind and geothermal energy production as well as provide research and development funding for hydrogen fuel-cell and other "battery" technologies.

We are running on borrowed energy. Oil is just one part of the problem—and oil spills just one of the risks. The trouble is our whole fossil fuel driven way of life. There is not a big enough store of fossil fuels on earth to sustain it, and if there were, it would only make matters worse. Prices would go down and use would go up. The environmental costs of extraction would rise and the climate would be wrecked that much sooner and more completely, perhaps irretrievably so.

What is it going to take to facilitate the transformational change needed?  Perhaps the most influential is a grass-roots demand.  Changes in consumption and conservation practices are occuring slowly.  Combined with a massive, global outcry for change can jump-start the shift.  Energy company executives should also be help criminally accountable for legal transgressions which result in incidents like BP and Exxon spills, similar to the laws holding public company executives responsible for fraud.  We need to follow Gandhi's dictum and "be the change we wish to see in the world." Other practical steps that can be taken include the following from Sheryl Eisenberg.

Step 1: Drive less. Do you hop in the car whenever you need something? Zigzag across the landscape to perform errands in opposite directions? Drive where you could easily walk? Join the club.

Americans burn up gas so freely because it hardly seems to cost them anything. The price at the pump is deceptively low and the true price—environmental destruction—is hard to recognize.

But for this brief moment in time, thanks to the oil spill, we can connect the dots. Use the opportunity to change the way—and amount—you drive. Plan your trips. Carpool. Walk. Bike. Give public transportation a chance.

Step 2: Care and repair. Cars and appliances, along with virtually everything else in our consumer culture, are considered more or less disposable nowadays. Since we expect to replace them, we don't keep them in good working order. Thus, they continue to operate, but grow less and less efficient, eating up energy unnecessarily when they run.

So take your car for regular tune-ups, keep the tires inflated, change your air conditioner filters, lubricate the moving parts of motors and do all those other pesky maintenance tasks recommended in the manuals.

Step 3: Get energy-efficient equipment. The difference between conventional products and energy-efficient ones can be quite staggering. For instance, an incandescent bulb uses four times as much energy to produce a given quantity of light as a compact fluorescent bulb—and 10 times as much as an LED. Yes, the energy-efficient alternatives cost more to buy, but they also cost less to operate. Besides, becoming the change you want to see in the world includes paying more for a cleaner, safer future. So, shop for Energy Star appliances and factor fuel economy into your choice of car.

Step 4: Go local—and not just with food. It's simple: goods need to be transported to market. The shorter the distance, the less energy required. Therefore, look for products made close to home.

Step 5: Change your habits. Today's norm is to live wastefully, but you don' t have to go along. To save energy:

• Turn off lights when not in use.
• Wash full loads of dishes and laundry.
• Air dry both.
• Change your clothes before the thermostat.
• Unplug chargers and always-on appliances.
• Reuse and recycle.
• Eat less meat.

Step 6: Buy less stuff. It takes energy to produce goods. Think twice before you throw it away on things you do not need.

Whatever you do, don't let this moment pass without some step toward change.