High Holy Mass of Contradictions

Reading over the thread at Music City Bloggers about mortgage foreclosures and such, I'm struck by a disparity I notice in the voices of the regulars there and in other online fora.

Why does it seem that so many of the people who get most passionate when it comes to matters of personal financial responsibility and conservation of fiscal resources are not equally passionate when it comes to environmental responsibility and conservation of natural resources?

If these people can applaud and embrace the concept of budgeting dollars and curbing consumption when it is out of scale with the economic resources available, why can't they applaud and embrace the same principle when it comes to things like water, oil, clean air, trees, etc?

Is it because they don't think of it as a personal responsibility? Is it because no one has told them convincingly enough that it's the right thing to do?

You know what I think we need in the U.S.? We need a pro-environment activist who speaks from a conservative / Christian basis. Sort of like -- no, scratch that, exactly like the Dave Ramsey of environmentalism.

TerraPass has an interesting article up about the meaning and history of Hanukkah, in particular its energy-conservation heritage.

The story of Judah Maccabbee (190-160 BC) and how his small band of warriors overcame far more numerous forces to liberate Jerusalem has been an inspiration for 2,000 years. The miracle of the one-day supply of oil lasting for eight days and nights is the basis for lighting the Hanukkah menorah. It represents an early example of energy conservation with relevance to our current environmental challenges.

I want a menorah now. Anyone seen any good ones lately? It'd have to be contemporary to match our home decor (sorry to be superficial, but hey, hi, look who you're reading), so maybe somewhere in these results I'll find just the thing. On the other hand, if this is any indication:



yikes.

By the way, if you haven't signed up for TerraPass yet, check it out!

We watched Syriana last night. I was profoundly moved. It was a little complicated to follow, but reading the movie's Wikipedia entry just now helped immensely. Even so, unlike some of the critics who found it too cluttered or overly ambitious, I wouldn't change it a bit: the chaos makes it all the more realistic, and drives home how complex and interwoven the issues surrounding U.S. dependence on foreign oil are. That it fell short of achieving all that it set out to achieve as a film does nothing to diminish what it does achieve: a gripping, nearly overwhelming story about addiction and the lengths to which addicts will go to protect their stash.

Some of the reviews I've read criticize the film for not concluding with a specific call to action, but I didn't feel that lacking. I think most of us know what we can do; it's the doing that's a challenge. Beyond the inconveniences of consumer oil awareness, real dramatic change is unlikely. I don't mean that we shouldn't push for support of alternative fuels and higher standards for fuel efficiency, or that we shouldn't care about provisions on the local and regional level for alternative means of transportation, bike lanes, and such; that should all happen. But we probably shouldn't be surprised when there's significant push-back from corporations and government. The momentum of the oil machine will be difficult if not impossible to stop.

Still, here's one small change I made today: I signed up to have an organic Community Supported Agriculture package from Plumgood Food delivered tomorrow. It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time. (If it's not immediately clear how this plays into oil dependence, try reading this, this, or this.)

Next step? Karsten and I have been talking for a while about test-driving some hybrids. I plan to play around in Quicken tonight to see if we can afford the payments, and maybe we'll get around to at least one test-drive this weekend.

After that, I'm not sure. One of the most frustrating limitations is the lack of a safe way to ride my bike to work. Maybe Karsten and I can do some research this weekend -- check out a few possible routes. Otherwise, I suspect we'll make improvements in bits and pieces, mostly.

I'd be interested to hear from others: what you thought of Syriana (if you've seen it), what you thought of An Inconvenient Truth (if you've seen it), whether you're currently making any efforts to cut down on oil consumption, and if so, what those efforts are, etc.