A Day in the Life

I drive a reasonably fuel-efficient car, and I plan my errands so that I don't have to do any extra driving. I can usually go 2 weeks on a tank of gas...sometimes more. I keep my thermostat set low in the winter and high in the summer. I drink tap water most of the time instead of bottled water. When I hear how much oil Americans consume, I know I'm not responsible for the problem.

This morning I turned over in bed to turn off the alarm clock and then reached up to turn on the bedside lamp and noticed the shade needed to be vacuumed. I adjusted my pillow and picked up the remote to catch some early morning news on TV. I drank a few sips of water from the reusable plastic bottle on my bedside table and then put some Chapstick on my lips. I put a second coat of nail polish on my toes since I didn't have time for more than one coat last night.

After a while I got up and turned off the fan by my bed as I slipped into a pair of flip flops to go downstairs and fix breakfast. I dropped a CD into the player and listened to a little music as I pulled the cat food out of the refrigerator, removing the plastic cover.  Then I reached back in for a half-gallon container of 1% milk for my cereal. I took out another container of chocolate milk to drink with my vitamins, which I keep in a days-of-the-week pillbox. I turned the wand to open the window blinds as I put my dishes in the sink and ran a sponge and dishwashing liquid over them.

I took a bag of trash out and while I was outside, I looked up at my chimney which was repaired over the weekend. I was pleased to see that it was painted yesterday. As I looked at the roof, I marveled again that the recent tornado in my area did not damage any of the shingles. I went back in the house, grateful for the air conditioning because it's already hot, even early in the morning.

Then I went upstairs to clean the litter box and take a shower. I pulled the shower liner back and got in, moving a bottle of shampoo to reach my razor. I ran conditioner through my hair and remembered that I need to pick up some hair color to touch up my roots, not that I dye my hair or anything.

I dried off and applied some deodorant. Then I put on my robe and ran a comb through my hair, and grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste to brush my teeth. Then I put some anti-frizz gel in my hair and turned the hair dryer on. Once my hair was dry, I put rollers in and started to put my makeup on. Once that was done, I put on my clothes and a pair of leather sandals with comfy soles. I took my hair down and brushed it before taking the cap off of the hairspray and applying the finishing touches to my hair. I put my earrings on before putting some lotion on my hands.

I pulled my cell phone off the charger and threw it in my purse. I put my glasses on and pulled back the draperies to raise the shades in my bedroom and then went back down to the kitchen. I pulled some containers of leftovers out of the refrigerator and transferred them to smaller containers to put in my reusable lunch bag before heading out the door. I briefly considered grabbing the umbrella by the front door, but decided with only a 30% chance of rain I probably wouldn't need it.

As I walked out to the car, I clicked the remote to unlock it. I set my purse down next to the console and made a mental note of the time on the clock on the dashboard as I pulled out, wondering when the resurfacing of my parking lot will begin. I switched to my sunglasses as I pulled out onto the street. As I drove past the corner convenience store, I saw that the numbers on the sign indicated that the price of gasoline had dropped another couple of cents. I pulled up to the ATM at the bank and pulled out my debit card to get some cash.

At the last traffic light before my office, I pulled a tube of lipstick out of my purse for a touch-up. I parallel parked in the parking lot, and when I got out of the car, I noticed one of the tires was a little bit on the (ridiculously low) curb, but decided to let it go. I walked to my office where I picked up a note that was in my chair as I sat down in front of my keyboard to begin my day. I saw the flash drive that I keep meaning to take home still sitting in my computer.

It was just after 9:00 a.m. and I had already used well over 50 products that are connected to petroleum. And it's not just the few dozen things I used this morning. There are thousands of products made from petroleum.

We need to start looking for new sources of energy to meet our transportation needs, but there's also room for innovation in lots of other areas. I realize there are green options for some of these items, but not for all of them. It's easier to avoid using items imported from China (no small task itself) than it is to avoid using items made from petroleum. Even things that are not petroleum-based are made in factories using machines that require energy to work, and those machines may also contain parts that come from the petroleum industry. That means my cotton towels and leather purse might have an oil connection, too.

You see, it's not as simple as conservation, or stopping off-shore drilling. We need to encourage creativity along with conservation to meet the needs of the future. Seriously, the time that we're going to have to deal with this, might not be that far off.

I'm blind as a bat, which makes me partial to lightweight eyeglasses. We need to start figuring out what we'll replace those plastic lenses with so people like me don't have a constant headache from wearing heavy glasses. (Contact lenses are also derived from petroleum.) Artificial limbs need to be lightweight to be practical...how are we going to replace them? And what about disposable diapers? I know some parents who are green in every other way, but can't stomach the old fashioned diaper route, even with a diaper service.

And there are thousands of other products that are going to require some ingenuity.

With the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it's easy to place all the blame on the oil companies, but they're only doing what all companies do. They're in the business of selling a product to consumers, and we consume far more of what they sell than most of us have ever considered. It's not all about transportation. Not by a longshot.

According to a government website, "about 72% of the 7.14 billion barrels of petroleum that we used in 2008 were gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel." That leaves nearly 30% of oil going into other products that we all use every day.

The problem isn't just about Big Oil and greed. We have all contributed to the mess in the Gulf.

All. of. us.

There is no one righteous, not even one. ~ Romans 3:10

Bless, Bess, What a Mess!

A few posts back, I made a brief comment about flying from Dallas to LA on the same flight as Victoria Principal. It was during the heyday of the show, Dallas. On that flight, I was seated next to a couple who had flown from New York, and since they had never seen the city of Dallas other than on the show, they had planned to have a long enough layover to rent a car and do some sightseeing. As it turned out, their flight from JFK was late, so instead of renting a car, they had just enough time to run into the gift shop at DFW and pick up some postcards.

As we took off, the wife pulled the postcards out her bag. Her husband and I were seated on either side of her, and I glanced at the postcards as they both pored over them, occasionally asking me questions. She pulled out one postcard that showed a train, and I noticed her studying it intently. Finally she turned to me and asked, "Where do the people ride?" I asked her to repeat the question, not because I hadn't heard her clearly, but because I was baffled by the question.

"Where do the people ride?"

"It's a freight train," I replied.  "People don't ride them. They're for cargo."

She looked at me as though I had just landed from Mars. Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "People ride trains?"

I'm kidding. I knew people ride trains, but it doesn't happen much in this part of the world. We're not big on mass transit. We don't even like to carpool. Come on, I might want to leave before you, and I need to have my own car.

All of this to explain that I am of two minds on this whole BP business. I think we should be looking for alternative sources of energy. I think we should be green. No matter what anyone thinks of Al Gore, I think we should be conserving energy for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with climate change.

But those alternative sources of energy are still largely Plan B, and we don't have a Plan B in place. We talk about wind, but the financing for that has dried up, along with a lot of other things. We talk about natural gas as an energy source for cars, but we're long way from making that practical.

As for oil, we are where we are.

I'm from a part of the world where many people I know are connected to the oil industry, from independent producers to those who provide equipment for off-shore drilling. Several members of my extended family are employed in various facets of the petroleum industry. It's not just about gasoline and motor oil.

Products from petroleum are diverse, including plastics, textiles, contact lenses, and artificial limbs. Vitamin capsules, tape, shampoo, and house paint are also derived from petroleum. As one Facebook friend has continually reminded another in a series of arguments threads on this topic, the computer you are reading this on is encased in plastic that came from oil. The list of items derived from petroleum is overwhelming.

We are where we are.

Much of our way of life is directly connected to oil. So while I have never been a fan of off-shore drilling, I've never been fully opposed to it either (although I have always been opposed to drilling in ANWR.) The "Drill, baby, drill" mantra appalled me, as those who were pushing it seemed to think it was a joke. While I don't agree with their attitude, I have seen off-shore drilling as something we need to do, mostly because we don't have a Plan B.

So when President Obama announced an expansion of off-shore drilling at the end of March, I thought it made sense. Has that changed since the BP rig explosion? I don't know. I don't see a simple solution.

We are where we are.

Those two Facebook friends who have spent the last few weeks engaged in a passionate dispute over the topic haven't answered any questions for me. One is ultra-conservative, and the other is ultra-liberal. One has worked in the oil industry, the other has worked in education. I have to tell you, while I tend to be left of center on many topics, and right of center on a few others, I don't think either one of them has any answers. I think they are both right about some things, and I think they are both wrong about others.

That's the problem with so many things right now. Everyone wants to solve problems with knee-jerk reactions, and hardly anyone wants to meet in the middle with a practical solution.

What is happening in the Gulf is unacceptable. That BP would ask the public for ideas on how to stop the leak is so absurd, no one could make it up. That for the last few years industry executives and politicians have continually told us that off-shore drilling is safe ("Drill, baby, drill!) because there hadn't been a major spill from off-shore drilling off the US coast since 1969 is infuriating. That after a month of not being able to stop the oil from leaking into the Gulf, the same politicians who were pushing "Drill, baby, drill!" are now blaming the government for the problem is insulting.

But we are where we are.

I understand the frustration with the government over this, but I'm not sure what the government is supposed to do to stop a leak once it has started. (And excuse me, but aren't these the same people who want the government out of everything in favor of the free marker?) Sure, the Army Corps of Engineers should surely be able to help figure out what to do, but I'm not sure the government has the equipment needed to fix it. I don't recall any of the politicians arguing for off-shore drilling ever saying anything about the government's role in cleaning up any spills that might occur. These same people who argued that we should allow drilling in ANWR never told us anything but how safe it is.

It seems to me that the role of government should be to demand that safety precautions be in place to prevent accidents like this in the first place. Do other countries require things that we don't? Were there things we  could have done before this accident occurred that we didn't do?

In the midst of the mess, I hear arguments from both sides bring God into it. One side refers to Genesis and says, "The earth is here to provide for our needs, and the oil is there for a reason." The other side refers to Genesis and says we are charged with taking care of the earth.

I agree with both. We need to take care of the earth, but the oil is there for a reason. Even so, I have to wonder, why is it so hard to reach? Is it because God wants us to recognize that we need to be getting serious about Plan B? Is it a heads up that we need to conserve as much as we can?

I don't think it's a coincidence that this happened just as President Obama announced the expansion of off-shore drilling. I don't agree with those who say it's a warning to stop off-shore drilling altogether, but I do think it's a warning to proceed with extreme caution.

I believe it's a heads up to get on with finding alternative sources of energy. We are where we are, but oil is not an unlimited resource, and we have to stop behaving as though it is. We need to start thinking about what changes we need to make as a nation to be ready for whatever comes next. We need to be investing in research and putting the best minds we have to work on this issue.

We have to demand that more safeguards be put in place to keep this from happening again. If politicians tried to tell us off-shore drilling was safe because there hadn't been an accident in 40 years, then we need to go at least 100 years without an accident before anyone tries to bring up the idea of drilling in ANWR again.

We have to quit behaving as though we own the earth and remember that we're just leasing. We owe that much to future generations. We might even have to consider carpooling. =)