Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Compelling Circumstances

I'm starting to hear more about ending sprawl, driving less, reducing air conditioner use, etc all in the service of reducing global warming. The progressive sort of people who say these things in the media act as if these things should be a matter of policy or personal choice. What they fail to understand is that global warming is a horse that's already left the barn and that circumstances will compel us to drive less, turn off the A/C and move within walking distance (or a short bus/train ride) to where we make our living and buy our stuff. People are already using less oil because the remaining supplies are dwindling while the amount of people using the stuff to drive and regulate the temperature of their dwellings (and to eat indirectly) is still rising at the same terrifying clip. The price is going up and at some point very soon we here in the U.S. will simply not be able to afford our current lifestyles. You no longer get to use up a bunch of energy in shuttling in your private conveyance 30 miles each way every day. You no longer get to run your air conditioner every moment between April and September. Likely you won't be getting to eat quite as much as you do now either nor live quite as long for that matter, but first say farewell to the hypermobility Consumerus Americanis takes for granted.