Have you ever noticed that when you have less stuff to do, you actually end up getting more done? I mean really, when I don’t have school work to do I get all the little projects done around the house that have been bugging me for the last eight months, and then end up having time left over. If I didn’t use this time for working out, I would totally be into some sort of cause. Oh wait, just checked my blogroll, I already have a cause!
Between school work and trying to combine all my errands into one trip the other day, I noticed that the price of gas has dropped recently. Every time this happens my rear end starts to pucker, and I’ll tell you why. It is just the oil company’s way of taking a deep breath in to blow out all of our candles before they dig into the birthday cake that is your (and, more importantly to me, my) wallet. Too many times recently has the cost of a gallon gone down ten cents only to rocket back up a quarter next week.
Furthermore, here’s another disgusting concept. The only time this country (as a whole, I will get to this later) begins to do anything remotely resembling a good thing for the planet is when gasoline starts to actually burn a hole in our wallets. The use of hybrid cars jumped drastically when gas prices started to reach the ionosphere. But really, was the development of these hybrids not actually fueled by the rising gas prices themselves? I doubt that it was a completely selfless act; after all, the manufacturers with the best hybrids are carving out a nice little market share. Don’t think the country’s motivation is purely economical? Two words: “Kyoto Accord” – look it up.
Found it yet? You won’t find it in US policy, since we didn’t adopt it. We are the only developed nation which attended the coucil on global climate change in Kyoto and refused to sign the Accord. By the way, did I mention that we are also, by far, the number one carbon emission producing country per capita in the world? In english that means that nobody in the world pollutes more than the American citizen. Now, I really don’t mean to hit everybody, because it’s really not everybody’s fault. Okay, actually it is, but there are a few people who are in a perfect position to change things but won’t. First off, let’s talk about automobiles. Sure the new hybrids are cutting our use of gas by about 40%, but only for the people who actually buy one! Hybrids make up a small amount of the automotive populus, but everybody who lives in a house with electricity could make a huge difference if one thing were to happen. Here is a big hot topic when it comes to the environment: Alternative Energy. If a few big companies (the power conglomerates) were to drop one significant chunk of change on some hydroelectric dams then everybody who they serve would be running their day to day activities nearly emission free. Sure it would be an expense up front, but they would save money in the long run by not having to buy oil to burn for electricity!
Now, I assumed at the start of this that you knew why stopping global warming is important. If not, read the links.
Of course, we live in a world where the fat cats lay off good people because they don’t want to pay an employee’s salary while they go cruising around the world on their new yacht for two years.
Ok, now I am done ranting.
See, the less I have to do, the more I want to take on some new project. Oh yeah, and things are going well otherwise.
