It's obvious to any educated person who's not in denial that the Earth is in a downward spiral towards uninhabitability. It's widely accepted that the burning of fossil fuels is primarily to blame for this downward spiral. So why do people continue to use fossil fuels as much as they do, and why aren't we in emergency mode?

I believe the main reason is that for most people it hasn't become tangible. To use a fitting analogy, imagine you're on the beach, sitting on a blanket with your sandwich, wallet, lotion, etc., engrossed in a book. Then all of a sudden a huge wave crashes down behind you, and before you know it all of your stuff is washed away. You're saying to yourself, "I knew it was a possibility, but I watched the water for a minute when I arrived and planted myself several feet from the edge of the wet sand." The problem with this analogy is that the consequences do not involve destruction of the economy and of the typical American lifestyle. But with both situations, if you wait long enough you are certain to feel the effects of your laziness or your inability to manage risk, whatever the case may be.

Another main reason we are not in emergency mode is that our pseudo-capitalist society here in the U.S. leads us to believe that the desire for money results in innovative products and solutions to all economic problems. While we may have capitalism to thank for a lot of the technological progress we've made over the past couple centuries, capitalism cannot work miracles, and right now it would take a miracle for a product to appear that can provide enough energy to the world--particularly in the transportation sector--to provide a smooth transition away from fossil fuels. This problem is compounded by the failure of the most powerful governments to recognize that the urgency of the situation requires forced energy taxation. What I mean by that is that instead of politicians touting how they will keep gasoline prices down and whatnot, they should be talking about how they will raise energy prices so that they can (a) use the tax money to fund mass transit, renewable energy research, etc., and (b) use the price increase as a warning to people and companies that consumption needs to decrease, or at least move away from fossil fuels.

The problem with increasing energy taxes is that those who can least afford it will be hit hardest, i.e. poor people who can't find a job within walking distance, blue-collar workers whose employers depend on cheap transportation and cheap plastic, etc. So the question becomes: What's more important, the fate of mankind, or the ability of a portion of the population to live somewhat healthily without having to struggle? I don't like it, but I think the answer is obvious.

In a later post I'll get into the details of how the supply-siders in the U.S. are making it difficult to transition away from an economy where consumption doesn't reign supreme, but I'll leave you with a link to an amusing yet sad a posteriori rant that relates to this post.