hbgold (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} hbgold) wrote,@ 2008-02-23 07:20:00 |
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Simple Things
I've started reading The New York Times online during the weekend because as it turns out most of the stories in The Dallas Morning News come from there. A couple of stories caught my eye this morning, and after considering the actual content, I started to consider them in a larger context.
The first story, and mind you this is The New York Times was about the fact that Texas has become the largest producer of wind energy. Not only is it serving as a catalyst for alternative fuels, but as a means of reviving economies across the state. While he has not done much right, either as Governor or President, especially with regard to the environment and alternative energy, it was George Bush who as Governor encouraged the development of wind energy (and it wasn't even something that Dick Cheney at Halliburton could capitalize on).
The second story, actually a blog (Bitten) by Mark Bittman, was on the ease and joy of making real popcorn. I remember making popcorn. I didn't gag on the fumes coming out of the microwave now.
Using the wind and popping corn kernels are not new ideas. But they work and haven't really been improved upon. There are alternatives of course, but each has had dramatic consequences. So it isn't so much that we need new ideas, or a change in philosophy, we need to stop pursuing immediate gratification. We need to figure out what we want, what it costs, and then go after it. The responsibility for it lies with us. The preacher-like chant for change echoes hollow. If any change is needed, it is in ourselves. Everything does not have to be made easier or labor saving. Everything does not have to be laid out before us. With a little hard work, we can put up a wind turbine that will generate electricity, that will power the stove, to allow us to cook our whole grain kernels of corn that hopefully we grew without massive amounts of chemicals that are either leached into the soil or our bodies. We won't destroy the environment. We won't give leverage to sheet wearing oil moguls. We will be eating healthier. It's simple.
I've started reading The New York Times online during the weekend because as it turns out most of the stories in The Dallas Morning News come from there. A couple of stories caught my eye this morning, and after considering the actual content, I started to consider them in a larger context.
The first story, and mind you this is The New York Times was about the fact that Texas has become the largest producer of wind energy. Not only is it serving as a catalyst for alternative fuels, but as a means of reviving economies across the state. While he has not done much right, either as Governor or President, especially with regard to the environment and alternative energy, it was George Bush who as Governor encouraged the development of wind energy (and it wasn't even something that Dick Cheney at Halliburton could capitalize on).
The second story, actually a blog (Bitten) by Mark Bittman, was on the ease and joy of making real popcorn. I remember making popcorn. I didn't gag on the fumes coming out of the microwave now.
Using the wind and popping corn kernels are not new ideas. But they work and haven't really been improved upon. There are alternatives of course, but each has had dramatic consequences. So it isn't so much that we need new ideas, or a change in philosophy, we need to stop pursuing immediate gratification. We need to figure out what we want, what it costs, and then go after it. The responsibility for it lies with us. The preacher-like chant for change echoes hollow. If any change is needed, it is in ourselves. Everything does not have to be made easier or labor saving. Everything does not have to be laid out before us. With a little hard work, we can put up a wind turbine that will generate electricity, that will power the stove, to allow us to cook our whole grain kernels of corn that hopefully we grew without massive amounts of chemicals that are either leached into the soil or our bodies. We won't destroy the environment. We won't give leverage to sheet wearing oil moguls. We will be eating healthier. It's simple.
