The Unbelievableness of Fossil Fuel

One night while I was putting gasoline in my VW Beetle, a realization came to mind. The weirdness of what I was doing. Think about it, you put liquid, combustible materials into a thing. This liquid is formed in the earth from millions of years of pressure. From old plants and dinosaurs. You are putting a dinosaur into your tank. To take you to the supermarket. Doesn’t that seem odd?! Realize that I don’t drive much. For 5 years I lived in Japan without a car, using their very reliable mass transit system. Trains and buses; clean, on-time, and covering almost every part of the country. Highway buses for long hauls, with airplane-like chairs that lean back. Shinkansen (“bullet train”) that travels upwards of 100mph. AND, you can eat and drink (even beer!) while riding on them.

When I moved back to the US, I resisted buying a car. I try to give the bus system as much of my time as possible. Why not, Honolulu’s TheBus system in the city is generally clean and relatively efficient. (On time and with bus drivers who really love helping people, I can not say. ) I take the bus to work every day and it’s a chance to listen to Audibles (books on tape) and relax. (Well, more than if I was driving!)

So on the occasion when I do drive, and even more rare, when I have to fill the tank, the image of millions of years being pumped out of the ground from some billions-of-dollars-in-profit-every-year company into this funky shaped machine called an “automobile”, just doesn’t seem “right”. That unique gasoline smell. Those pillars that suck up my credit card PRIOR to purchase. Those bright lights and colors overhead. It’s like a movie set from a different planet.

There have been news stories about people complaining about the high prices of fuel. (If you follow Peak Oil — see From The Wilderness and New Society for more — then there is no real shock about it.) When asked what to do, the President can’t say “conserve” or “take the bus”. Any surprise for a man whose wealth largely comes from oil?! And without some common-sense alternatives, you hear people say “what are you going to do” while they tank up their SUVs. What are you going to do?

Below are some excellent resources to learn more… but how tough is it to car pool? Hey, it’s possible someone in your office might like a ride instead of taking their own car every morning. Bus, train, bike. No mass transit in your city? Write to the mayor and ask why, or write an editorial.

“Addicted to cheap oil”… it does seem like an addition. Like someone has told the public “it’s OK to fuel up as much as you want, don’t worry about where it comes from or that it’s a finite resource”. Oh, granted I love the freedom that having a car enables. Not waiting an hour in the heat of Hawaii for a bus, being able to take any road you want, stopping whenever you want; all good things. But do you need that freedom every single day, when so many people do exactly the same things everyday…?

Additional Resources:
Books:

| |
DVDs:

Be Sociable, Share!

•