The Observation Deck

Then you’ll love windmills and solar panels. I don’t have the numbers, and the people who do pretty much all have political agendas, but I figure if wind, solar, biofuels, used french fry oil and cow farts were anywhere close to replacing oil as a significant energy source, we’d be seeing them actually in use by now. But we’re not. Instead we’re shedding blood in the Middle East and hoping Chavez isn’t serious. So I figure the real cost of windmills and solar much be a GREAT deal more than we pay for oil today. That’s why we pray for hybrids, CAFÉ standards, cap-and-trade and other pipe dreams.

I recommend conservation. Actually (gasp!) using WAY less energy. Living closer to work. Shopping closer to home. Driving a MUCH smaller car. Turning down the thermostat like Hoffert does. Living in smaller homes. Probably having less kids. Walking and biking….

Speaking of bikes, at breakfast this morning I mentioned to my daughters – how come we “driveâ€Â

It takes a lot of momentum and infrastructure to use energy, not just to produce it. There just ain't much weight being applied to windmills, solar, or retail and civic infrastructure scaled to a much less energy intensive requirements.

Maybe gasoline would only be a dollar a gallon if we used a third less. but it would take a lot publicly funded education and marketing to keep people valuing a lifestyle which uses only so much gasoline. That is money better spent building wider interstates, funding new giant retail complexes, and building a 2 mile wide corridor from Mexico through Texas.

America's ability to build and design and scale infrastructure probably peaked in the great lakes region in the 1920s. the construction and architecture of homes, hospital buildings, factories, and shopping.

My friend was breaking up with his girlfriend outside her mom's house on the westside. it was an 80 year old house. He punched the house and totally broke his hand! they had to screw his hand bones back together again. It was awesome! If he had done that to a new 250 thousand dollar house outside columbus the house would have a big hole in it.

ryan costa wrote:My friend was breaking up with his girlfriend outside her mom's house on the westside. it was an 80 year old house. He punched the house and totally broke his hand! they had to screw his hand bones back together again. It was awesome! If he had done that to a new 250 thousand dollar house outside columbus the house would have a big hole in it.

:shock:

And what do I get for all these sacrifices?
Why do I have to live in a cramped, cold little house in an unsafe neighborhood (close to work of course) and drive a tiny, unsafe car and walk to pay $5 for a gallon of milk at a little corner store, when my boss is driving his Hummer to the mansion in horse country. warming himself in the hot tub while he plans a vacation to Martinique?
Ill live like a European when I get the 6 wks vacation, gun-free streets, and govt health care Until then, if Im paying the price to live in teh USA, I want the upside too.
Iwont say anything about the fewer children comment becase native-born middle-class Americans are already doing that, were barely replacing ourselves.

Im not seeing a grand social movement toward sacrifice. CAFE standards, cap-and-trade agreements and the like may seem like pipe dreams to you, but until everyone has the same epiphany, theyre probably the most effective and fair strategies we can persue.

Dee Martinez wrote:And what do I get for all these sacrifices?
Why do I have to live in a cramped, cold little house in an unsafe neighborhood (close to work of course) and drive a tiny, unsafe car and walk to pay $5 for a gallon of milk at a little corner store, when my boss is driving his Hummer to the mansion in horse country. warming himself in the hot tub while he plans a vacation to Martinique?
Ill live like a European when I get the 6 wks vacation, gun-free streets, and govt health care Until then, if Im paying the price to live in teh USA, I want the upside too.
Iwont say anything about the fewer children comment becase native-born middle-class Americans are already doing that, were barely replacing ourselves.

Im not seeing a grand social movement toward sacrifice. CAFE standards, cap-and-trade agreements and the like may seem like pipe dreams to you, but until everyone has the same epiphany, theyre probably the most effective and fair strategies we can persue.

Those are good points! 60 Minutes had a good segment on Denmark last night. It sounds as though you would be happy in Denmark.

If we had the whole Conservativationistism thing going maybe gas would be a dollar a gallon again. It is just too much consciousness for most consumers to cope with. Back when gas was a buck a gallon I enjoyed driving around for hours in the rural counties to the south and west of here listening to Lite Rock on the FM radio in my 1980s chevy cavaliers.

There is an Aldi store around the corner from me. It was frustrating to shop there because there would be giant white mush mouthed teenagers bothering their mom or grandparents for junk food. They'd get sidetracked by a sudden urge to repeat gangsta rap lyrics. I didn't understand most of the lyrics. But it was impressive they could recite all that much from memory: It took me over two years just to remember the pledge of allegiance. Now I do the grocery shopping at the Bi-Rite and Discount Drug Mart a few blocks away on Fulton.

America invests most of its capital in vehicles and weapons and people to kick the stuffing out of Muslim countries and sometimes Asian and Latin American Countries! It would take years of Research and Development to create weapons and vehicles and people to focus this energy inward.

Lakewood today reminds me a lot of the Detroit-Shoreway and Cudell neighborhoods 22 years ago.