212
virtually all of them are made from petroleum. Roads are paved with heavy bitumen
residuals from oil refineries known as asphalt. Metallurgy uses coal and gas in the
smelting and casting process. Portland cement for concrete requires high temperatures for slaking that are achieved with natural gas.
Even the manufacture of green energy products like solar panels and wind turbine blades depends on fossil fuels. The materials for these have to be mined or
refined from somewhere, and it all requires energy, much of it fossil. Large trucks
burning diesel fuel are needed to transport wind turbine blades and other components from the factory out to sites where they are assembled. Our civilization dictates this. Horse-drawn wagons simply will not work.
People who preach “greener than thou” in the belief that the enormous climate
problem can be fixed if everyone just adjusted their consumption habits are both
annoying and wrong (Marris 2020). Those with the financial resources and technical expertise to go “off the grid” by placing solar cells on the roof to charge up their
electric cars are to be commended for their efforts, but these people remain an elite
and wealthy minority. Some environmentalists expect everyone else to follow suit,
but most ordinary people can’t afford to trade in their 10-year old Toyota for a Tesla
and don’t have permission from the landlord to install solar panels on their apartment roof. This is reality, and blaming these people for climate change because they
are forced by society to drive a gasoline-fueled car to work and use a gas stove to
cook dinner misunderstands how intimately fossil energy is entangled with our
technological civilization. Yes, these actions do contribute to GHG and climate
change, but fixing the problem requires more than just putting up a windmill in the
backyard. Personal windmills and rooftop solar panels may eliminate individual
dependence on the daily use of fossil fuel, but these do not address the larger energy
issues facing society. For example, how do you make steel, cement, aluminum, or
many of the other energy-consumptive materials needed by society with 100 watts
of energy from a rooftop solar panel?
This reality is not meant to give individuals a free pass to avoid personal responsibility for addressing climate change. To deal with energy and climate, substantial
modifications will be needed in societal structures and the systems that support
them. This requires grassroots support, and everyone must do their part; the contribution of each and every individual is important. Whether or not someone has gone
“green” is less important than contributing one’s skills and resources to help make
change happen.
Some people may find it useful to join a group dedicated to energy and climate
activism, where one’s skill set can complement the skill sets of others, which may
be very different. Another important point is to fight for something, and not just be
against everything. Being constantly negative is a major turn-off that causes mainstream society to shut out the message. However, nearly everyone in society cares
about the environment to some degree, and appealing to these concerns helps build
a consensus for large-scale policy change. Rather than just opposing something,
suggesting new ideas for what can be done instead strikes a more positive note and
turns the discussion toward solutions (Marris 2020).
11 Balancing Energy, Environment, and Economics
virtually all of them are made from petroleum. Roads are paved with heavy bitumen
residuals from oil refineries known as asphalt. Metallurgy uses coal and gas in the
smelting and casting process. Portland cement for concrete requires high temperatures for slaking that are achieved with natural gas.
Even the manufacture of green energy products like solar panels and wind turbine blades depends on fossil fuels. The materials for these have to be mined or
refined from somewhere, and it all requires energy, much of it fossil. Large trucks
burning diesel fuel are needed to transport wind turbine blades and other components from the factory out to sites where they are assembled. Our civilization dictates this. Horse-drawn wagons simply will not work.
People who preach “greener than thou” in the belief that the enormous climate
problem can be fixed if everyone just adjusted their consumption habits are both
annoying and wrong (Marris 2020). Those with the financial resources and technical expertise to go “off the grid” by placing solar cells on the roof to charge up their
electric cars are to be commended for their efforts, but these people remain an elite
and wealthy minority. Some environmentalists expect everyone else to follow suit,
but most ordinary people can’t afford to trade in their 10-year old Toyota for a Tesla
and don’t have permission from the landlord to install solar panels on their apartment roof. This is reality, and blaming these people for climate change because they
are forced by society to drive a gasoline-fueled car to work and use a gas stove to
cook dinner misunderstands how intimately fossil energy is entangled with our
technological civilization. Yes, these actions do contribute to GHG and climate
change, but fixing the problem requires more than just putting up a windmill in the
backyard. Personal windmills and rooftop solar panels may eliminate individual
dependence on the daily use of fossil fuel, but these do not address the larger energy
issues facing society. For example, how do you make steel, cement, aluminum, or
many of the other energy-consumptive materials needed by society with 100 watts
of energy from a rooftop solar panel?
This reality is not meant to give individuals a free pass to avoid personal responsibility for addressing climate change. To deal with energy and climate, substantial
modifications will be needed in societal structures and the systems that support
them. This requires grassroots support, and everyone must do their part; the contribution of each and every individual is important. Whether or not someone has gone
“green” is less important than contributing one’s skills and resources to help make
change happen.
Some people may find it useful to join a group dedicated to energy and climate
activism, where one’s skill set can complement the skill sets of others, which may
be very different. Another important point is to fight for something, and not just be
against everything. Being constantly negative is a major turn-off that causes mainstream society to shut out the message. However, nearly everyone in society cares
about the environment to some degree, and appealing to these concerns helps build
a consensus for large-scale policy change. Rather than just opposing something,
suggesting new ideas for what can be done instead strikes a more positive note and
turns the discussion toward solutions (Marris 2020).
11 Balancing Energy, Environment, and Economics