First what are these problems? Decreasing energy supplies to go around, higher prices and costs for our energy, and environmental damage.
“But, gas prices are going down!” you are all shouting. But the war for oil: Iraq, Iran and Russia, is still going on. The pollution (a cost of petrochemical fuels) is not going away and needs to be cleaned up.
Will buying an fluorescent bulb stop any of this? No. The bulb still has to be made, packaged, marketed and shipped to a store near me. How about buying a new Hemp shower curtain to replace my evil PVC shower curtain? Not if my old shower curtain is still OK.
And the United States’ huge debt to everyone else is not good for anyone. Bankruptcy is not good for anyone. And that is where the United States is.
If you have to buy something, buy something sustainable. Let’s not dig the hole any deeper.
If you can get away from buying it, don’t.
I used to believe that it was good to buy things from China and from other third world countries since it would increase their standard of living and thus they would need to buy things from us. But that was before I understood the lack of environmental regulations and the loss of jobs here. I still want everyone (not just Americans and Europeans) to have a good standard of living, but I do not know how to make that happen. Some economists would say that it can’t happen. There is just not enough “stuff” to go around.
But I want there to be.
Does anyone else remember being a kid and having Mom say “Eat this, there are children starving in China.”? So, if I don’t buy that shower curtain, is there one extra for someone in China? Is there something left for them?
I, like John McCain, need to understand the economics of this more. But, if I use solar power, a wind turbine, a south facing home, I am leaving some energy out there in more traditional forms for others to use. If energy is the linchpin of economics, and from everything I have read, it is, then that more than anything increases everyone’s standard of living.
So what have I rambles around to? An Answer.
Using alternative energy is the only way to increase everyone’s standard of living.
