The answer is blowin' in the wind

Environmentalists in favor of shutting down a windmill farm. Wow.

When rival environmentalist factions are pitted against each other, they can look silly. Do we save the birds, or do we reduce dependence on fossil fuels? Some people don't care about either. It does seem like the best response, as as always, is to reduce demand by encouraging good habits. Californians cut their energy consumption by ten to fifteen percent almost immediately during the 2001 power crisis. I wonder whether those habits really stuck with people, though.

It can be frustrating to try to live gently among people who won't do the same. I had a houseguest this week who knew how to turn on the lights wherever he went, but didn't seem to know how to turn them off. My housemate loves to open all of our shore-facing windows, but he tends to leave the heat on when he does it. Some of my best friends set their thermostat at 74 degrees in the winter, and then open the front door for some fresh air. One of my old roommates subscribed to Earth Island Journal, but used a space heater to warm his room to 85 degrees so he could do hot yoga every night during the power crisis.

While many eyes are fixed on gasoline prices, the other gas -- natural gas -- is likely to be in short supply this winter, which will lead to high heating bills. I suspect most people won't really understand until the shortage hits them in the pocketbook.

Could I do better with my consumption habits? Sure. I could drive less. (My new vehicle uses about 35% less gasoline than the old one, and I take the bus significantly more often than I used to.) I could set the thermostat even lower and make my roommate put on a sweater, but it's hard to convince him to change his habits, and I'd be a lousy roommate if I harped on it. I realize that Americans' standards of comfort are higher than the rest of the world's, and that no matter what I do, I'll probably be a relatively hoggish consumer of resources. But it's no reason not to try to develop better habits.

[Tangentially related: I don't mean to make light of people fleeing imminent tragedy, but this picture does make you wonder how many economy-size cars there are in Houston.]


FMFM: Charles Mingus' frantic and passionate Let My Children Hear Music. How about those song titles?