Energy

I've written before about my emerging and increasing belief that to honor one another, ourselves, our descendants, and the planet, we must find ways to live more responsibly and create a life path that is less harmful to the people, places, and things around us.

One such area for improvement in our lives (Andy's, Ari's, and mine) is energy consumption. Some improvements are easy, no matter how busy or financially strapped we may be (changing lightbulbs, using less water, recycling, biking or walking more, turning off lights and other electrical energy suckers, etc.); however, some things will have to wait (solar panels, turbines, etc.).

And just when I was feeling down about the focus of the current administration on foreign oil and the ridiculously high prices at the pump, I heard a story this morning about an old oilman who has decided he wants to make wind power his legacy.

T. Boone Pickens has invested in oil for many, many years and has decided it's a dead end street (I'm paraphrasing). He feels remaining dependent on foreign sources of oil for energy consumption is ultimately not helping our country, and he has proposed spending billions of dollars investing in wind energy in Texas. Yup, Texas.

Apparently, North Dakota has enough land and enough wind to generate enough electricity to power homes in all of the United States (this seems like an inflated statements, perhaps, but this was something he said during the interview)... and his plan for Texas would generate enough electricity for over 1 million homes, which is a nice big dent if you ask me.

He also suggests using natural gas resources to power most of our transportation needs (though I would still love to see development of solar cars, electric cars, and hybrids everyone can afford). But wind is the way, according to Pickens. Which is pretty darn cool because it seems so very silly it's taken us this long to utilize natural weather patterns to serve our consumption needs.

So... a bit of inspiration for you sustainability and green junkies out there. If just a few more powerful moguls get on board for this kind of thing, we could actually be able to enjoy some innovative new resources that make life more affordable and more mindful (dare I say ethical?) as we go about our daily business.

And... in a related story, Philippe Starck, a French designer, has created a windmill the neighbors won't scoff at (though truly, why in the world would it matter to you what your windmill looked like?). I figure, if it gets more people buying them, especially owners of larger, more expensive homes who tend to use more energy, then I'm all for it!

At only $630 a pop, we might even consider buying one (though we'd probably only be on the 20% end if we stuck it in our current backyard). We shall see... that's definitely one of those "later" type changes.