GINTA — Oil dependency vs. oil abuse – time to call it right

Daniela Ginta writes for the Armchair Mayor News on Fridays.

COLUMN — Three days ago we hiked in the Mara Hills and certain things stood out: a group of shyly curious and fast-running mountain sheep, a beautiful landscape that was an open invitation to gratefulness, warmth and dryness as we made our way up the steep slope, two deer jumping in a valley, and, a day later, an unexpected and quite unpleasant continuation of the deer, a tick in my youngest son’s hair.

Too soon for two of those events, the warmth and the tick.

Which brings us to climate change. Some avoid the issue altogether, some dismiss it all with a ‘what a bunch of whiners’ attitude, and some scratch their heads wondering where and how it can be fixed.

Being steeped in early spring dulls things quite a bit, and that is unfair to everyone. The east is having it rough though. We might see some roughness here too towards the summer months when the short water supply will not overlap the long, hot weeks and the possible fires. Could that be? I hope not.

Hot or cold, we’re in it together. Which is why we should be able to look at what is happening around us and face it without employing some emergency justification tools, because truth is, justification is a miserable way to go through life, ignoring truth and opposing change.

While not final, President’s Obama recent veto of the Keystone XL pipeline has been received with a mix of reactions. A good thing, pipeline opponents say; an economic mistake, the proponents argue, since oil brings forth the jobs and all related. Consumerism too.

Which is where the problem lies. Just like in the ‘it’s not guns that kill, but the people who handle them,’ the same could be said about oil. It is not oil that wreaks our world, it is what we do with it. From the way we extract it to how we choose to use it, the range of uses is as wide as it is exaggerated at times.

To depend on oil for one too many things when alternative sources of energy can and should be made available is a problem. To abuse it, though, that’s a capital(istic) sin, and too big to be forgiven.

It is argued that we need oil because how else do we get around? Don’t you drive, people ask me. I do, if no other choice is available. And I drive with my family to go places. We hike and walk a lot too, but until we move to a small community where driving becomes obsolete, we cannot avoid it completely. On the other hand, we live in a way that affirms our commitment to the environment when it comes to food, household goods, waste output. We avoid consumerism as much as possible.

We all use oil. To power engines and to manufacture goods. The key word is ‘need.’ The safe word. Past that, the line between use and abuse is a thin one and we’ve crossed it so many times it’s less defined than ever, hence easy to ignore.

Too many stores have arrays of non-recyclable plastic items such as seasonal items (Valentine’s stuff is on clearance for a few pennies at most stores and Easter stuff is in), one-use toys (not by design but by default as they break so easily), useless kitchen household gadgets (have you seen the pepper savers, or lemon, or lime saver, or egg holder with a built-in salt shaker you’d take in your car because eating it at home is just not it anymore.)

We no longer just use oil, we abuse it. Why?

The industry fights to build pipelines that would run through beautiful pristine land where a bucketful of oil would be too much and they’re arguing for tankers that would alter and even ruin unique ocean ecosystems for generations to come. Reviews are tweaked to show good sides, the promise of jobs held high (how many jobs and for how long?), and people who argue for common sense and fairness to the land and future generations are deemed extremists and told they’re staying in the way of economic development.

But the economic development of a country should always benefit everyone in that country, not just a few, not people outside of it, and it should definitely not wreak the environment and potentially destroy anyone’s culture.

We do not need new models of cars, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, laptops, computers and phones every year. We simply do not evolve that fast. What grows constantly is our desire to have the next best thing (or so we think) because the appeal is built with much gusto by marketing wizards.

We listen, buy, and three months later (the average time for that initial feeling of contentment to wane, according to psychologists) we are in the midst of a small, medium or large crisis, yet again, and told that retail therapy can do the trick.

Whether you believe in climate change or not, pollution is real and the more fossil fuel we extract and use, the more polluted our world will be. Pollution is bad news for human health. Air, water and soil sustain us. Our responsibility, one could say selfishly so really, is to keep them clean so we can use them.

Which takes us back to how we use resources. Much of what we buy to fill our houses will ultimately end up as garbage. Some of that garbage, and not little, ends up in the oceans and coming to haunt us in more than one way.

Environmental groups are labeled as terrorists in Canada (if you saw the latest news about the leaked RCMP document that names groups and deems them dangerous) and everything becomes a game where we no longer know who the teams are, who is on whose side and what the rules are since those who have the financial power change them constantly as they see fit.

This is a game where we all lose, unless the rules stay fair and the purpose of the game is stated clearly for all to hear. If you’re ever by a group of kids playing, you may witness a great model of democracy. Concerns are voiced, decisions are made with that in mind and they all know that you have more fun when everyone plays together than when you lose people to discontentment and accusations of unfairness.

Whatever you believe in, here’s something to think about: if you were the kid today, how would you expect grownups to proceed in their actions? Would you like them to think of today only and their immediate benefit, or to align their actions with what would ensure that your world, when you grow up, will be just as livable as theirs is today…

Well, you are the adult today. What will you do?

Daniela Ginta is a mother, scientist, writer and blogger. She can be reached at daniela.ginta@gmail.com, or through her blog at http://www.thinkofclouds.com.