The Pickens Plan

This is on tv a lot. It doesn't entirely sound like a bad idea. The idea is to expand wind energy, massively, and use natural gas to fuel new fleet vehicles (which according to Pickens makes up 38% of our oil needs).

Here's my problem: Where's the conservation? Are we just replacing one finite resource for another in order to keep an unsustainable lifestyle going? That would just hold out death for another generation. Are we just gonna assume we'll have functional cold fusion in one hundred years?

We can't fix this thing with conservation, but we can make the fix cheaper with conservation. This doesn't mean changing everything it really means one thing:
1. Consider the energy costs of the things you do as well as the normal considerations of convenience and cost. So, convenience, cost, and conservation.

There are two things which can bring this about:
1. Patriotism.
2. The market.

You won't like the second option. It's $12 gas and $1000 utility bills. We may never see energy prices that high, but energy prices on that scale will definitely make conservation a top issue in every purchasers mind.

The first option is the real thing. It's making sacrifice for your country. It's not a lapel pin. It's not an offensive and ridiculous $2 plastic flag in the ground that you forgot to grab last night before the sun went down. It's not a flag you'll disgrace when it falls out of the car window.

The sacrifices don't have to be tough, now. There's a lot of little things.
* This site has some, although it's California so it takes water conservation very seriously.
* Want to save gas without spending any money: A less ridiculous form of hypermiling can help. Basically drive defensively and patiently. The game is to put yourself into situations where you will use the brakes less. Don't just "try not to brake." That's dangerous. "Try not to need to brake." The difference is looking ahead and having a plan and if you're not doing it already with respect to safety then you're a bad driver.
* Walk. It's the best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 1.5 miles. Just remember that it takes 20 minute to walk a mile (slightly less actually).
* Bicycle. It's the second best form of transit and it's effective for distances up to 8 miles, although the distance expands with more experience (you get faster).
* Buy the model with the smallest available engine. Anything larger is a rip off: They're selling you aluminum at a high price and it's only going to cost you money. (This doesn't apply to folks buying trucks, this is concerned with passenger vehicles).
* Just park in the back, the walk will be good for you and the search for a great spot only wastes time and gas. I know it's hard to resist, I do it too sometimes. Plus, by parking in the back you're reducing your parking lot driving which is accident riddled.
* More square feet means more cost not just "more." Just buy the space you'll need when you buy a house. You might get a house that's a bit too big, don't sweat it. But so many houses going up today are simply gigantic. And it's expensive. It's expensive to heat and cool and the price tag on the house is huge. Do you really want to pay your mortgage for 30 years? Wouldn't you rather retire a little early with the money you save on interest?
* Buy quality stuff and take care of it. Keep in mind that it's not always a cost issue to find quality, but it usually is. You won't find much quality here. They're all about price and volume, and you can increase volume with lower quality.
* Cook.

Most of this stuff isn't even sacrifice. Much of it is actually just being a smart consumer.