Living the life of low emissions




In order to save this world we will not be able to use the "same old methods".

We cannot justify consuming large quantities of fossil fuels in order to save this planet from the end of cheap oil.

Rather, we must be the change.

Our means must represent the ends we wish to achieve.

Leo Tolstoy once remarked: "Many men think of changing the world, few think of changing themselves."

We must think of changing ourselves.

Ask yourself this question; "Who among my friends and family believes as strongly as I do?" "Who among my friends and family will act with me to save this world?"

The answer is; "It is up to us to be the change."

Countless times through my life I have reached that same conclusion and gained clarity. And a hard but fullfiling road ahead of me.

The real solution to our problems is to be found within this small circle of nearly 400 Quad City progressive activists. We call ourselves Progressive Action for Common Good. It is up to us to find the way. It's up to us to be the change.

Some of us feel shackled to finding a way to allow our society to retain the comfort level we are all used to here in America. We hope for a community as comfortable as it is sustainable. A community modeled around people instead of autosaurus.

A place where we both live and work. Someone said to me the other day that my idea of a community bike ride was nothing more than symbolic. Another person said that my idea of community molded around people instead of the car was a nice dream but that they would still have to "go to work" away from were they lived. These are American progressive activists. It is just bred into us I guess. Going no where fast.

Flying to Alaska in an airplane to save seals from the continuing damage of the Exxon-Valdez spill sounds nice but the question occurs to me; "Who's environment will we be destroying to save one that is already being helped by the local population in Alaska?" It already has more money than many areas that need attention.

Actually travelling fast and far is exactly why community doesn't exist now at all. Back in the old days it took a lot more than an arguement with my brother to get me on a covered wagon to california. We don't even know what community is anymore!

The greatest flaw of our society is the way we are all disconnected from the land. We should work where we live. Then we would care about the health of the land. Now we won't know when the machine is done spitting twinkies out at us until the machine is empty.

When we become disconnected from nature we are no longer the health of the land we have become its very illness.

The machine is stopping. There is a change coming. I call it the impending paradise.

As the machine fails the poisoning of our planet will stop.

I hate to break it to everyone, but technology is not coming to save us all from the end of cheap oil.

Start riding your bike and walking.

Live within the means of your body / environment.

The author may be contacted at dave@oneskygate.net

The average American lifestyle requires 12.6 acres to support it. The average for Asia and India is 1.1. The world average is 4.4. It would require four earths for everyone on the planet to live like Americans.

In order to offset the use of fossil fuel with nuclear energy (at todays energy usage) we would need to build 7 times the nuke plants we now have. There are 440 of them now that would mean that we would have 3080 of them. They emit over their lives only one third the total co2 emissions of a standard coal or oil power plant.

For more information on how you can give the earth a break visit; www.energyindependence.net and also; www.sustainablequadcities.org

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