Environment and Conservation

I own a hybrid, and I am having a really hard time with it. I came from California, where there is seldom snow. My hybrid is a little Honda Civic that gets wonderful gas mileage, but in Colorado it snows and I’m driving around in my little hybrid that does not do well in the snow. My dilemma is whether to keep the hybrid and get killed, or go out and buy a small SUV where I will get 18 miles to the gallon. The thought of that makes me…sick!

I do think it’s interesting talking about education and energy conservation because there are so many contradicting ideas about conservation. They say drive a hybrid car, and yeah it’s great for mileage, and it saves you money, but what about the diesel it took to ship that hybrid car from overseas, not to mention all the different parts involved? I think it would be a really great idea to create some very concrete education saying what the costs behind different things are. I think it would be really great if we had some kind of education like in high school like an earth health class regarding what actually helps and what doesn’t.

I'm uncomfortable with blaming a small group of leaders for what I think is something that is a function of our society’s consumption. The truth is the American dream is still defined by a 3000 square foot house that consumes a lot of energy and a home in the suburbs that is 40 miles away from the workplace and a luxury car that pollutes as much as anything. I think we need to look at ourselves a little bit and not just energy companies for solutions. I would suggest that Congressman Udall look at culture changing ideas and things that would change the way that we as Americans live. What would be an attractive package to encourage me to be a home office employee and thus not a commuter? What would be an attractive package to downsize homes, to have year after year reductions in energy consumption, or things that would be public incentives rather than company incentives? I think the companies will catch on rather quickly if the market starts moving. These companies tend to want to react to where the market is going, and not lead the market.

In terms of the environment, there needs to be a cultural shift. I don't know how Mark will do this, but I have lived abroad and lived here. Abroad the most important thing is the community; in America the focus is the individual. We're founded on individual freedoms and rights, and that makes it kind of complicated. In Europe, you realize that it's all about what’s good for the community, and what’s good for the community rises to the surface.

I have taught ecology and environmental awareness for the past 28 years. I am also a beekeeper. I believe that the decline of the honeybees and other pollinators is a testament to the fact that modern agricultural practices are not sustainable. We now have vast tracts of land dedicated to single crops that are only in bloom for 3-4 weeks out of the year. Mono-cropping has destroyed the intricate and natural ecology that supported an abundant array of pollinators and their predators. Neither the honeybees nor other pollinators can survive in these single crop fields for the majority of the growing season. Read More >