Getting off oil is a big task, they say, but here are some ways that are affordable and reasonable to do now to break off our foreign dependence on oil.
Our oil is used for products (particularly plastics) and as an energy source. Here's what we could do now, within the budget of even a lower-middle class American.
- Replace oil-based pesticides and fertilizers with non-oil products.
- Sell compressed air-engine cars. These are extremely cheap to make, and even cheaper to "fill-up". They are more energy-efficient than electric cars, and because they have no fuel cells, are cheaper, more efficient, and with better range.
- Use sugar-based ethanol, and encourage people to make their car a "flex fuel car". We should abandon corn-based ethanol (it isn't efficient enough).
- Where possible replace plastics with bio-plastics. I have already used corn-based plastic silverware. It looks and feels just like plastic, and decomposes very quickly. Plastics, of course, don't decompose at all, in any relevant time-term. Plastic companies worry about losing jobs, we should help them migrate to the new technology. Bio-plastics are sold today, and readily available.
- Build Zero Energy Houses. Zero energy houses can run appliances, computers, etc., but require zero energy (net) over the course of a year. This is achieved through very high-tech computer models, and super-efficient materials, appliances, etc. They can be built even in areas with little sunlight or wind.
All these technologies are available now and very affordable. They are not experimental. They will improve our quality of life-- especially those more hard off-- because of the savings they will bring. And they are responsible solutions (yes, even ethanol!) Letting oil spill into the ocean from off-shore drilling is not a responsible solution.
We do not "need" oil. That's a lie sold to us. We do not "need" the jobs related to oil and plastics. They circulate these lies, because the people in power want us to "need" it, because they want us to live dependent on it. They want us getting energy from power plants. But we don't need it. It's time for a progressive future.
The world is opening new possibilities-- we need to be humble and start to actually impliment what they're doing. We Americans do not need to develop these technologies to get off oil, they are already here; the world has been tackling this problem for some time! Zero Energy Buildings (from Germany), compressed-air engine (France), bio-plastics (America), ethanol (Brazil (now a net exporter of oil!)). We don't need to be the ones to do it... It's there. We need to be man enough, woman enough, American enough, to see what's being done, and do it for ourselves.