Times Editorial : Living smarter
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/65148/
What was it Kermit the Frog said ? It’s not easy being green, right ? Of course, when this Muppet friend offered the thought, he sang of his own color. In the 21 st century world, being green has its own meaning, but it’s still not so easy. It takes conscious effort and work.
Thankfully, there are examples around Fayetteville and the region that green is growing. Fayetteville’s soon-to-be-complete Fire Station No. 3 is a prime example that the future is here when it comes to making better use of limited resources. The structure features a high-performance design that works to reduce the firehouse’s consumption of energy. It’s impossible not to applaud what’s been built out on Happy Hollow Road, because the more conservation and efficiency pumped into buildings, the more responsibility people are taking for the proper stewardship of this globe.
But going green is not the same as seeking sustainability. Making something sustainable means applying practices that can be maintained indefinitely. It involves terms like renewable sources of energy, not just less consumption of nonrenewable energy.
Efficiently using energy that is nonrenewable is still unsustainable. Sometimes it’s easy to miss that key distinction.
The trouble (of course ) is that Fayetteville’s Fire Station No. 3 is a drop in the bucket when comparing it to everything in Fayetteville that doesn’t take either green practices or sustainability into account. Add these to everything in Arkansas and across America that doesn’t make the grade, and you begin to realize that there is still a lot of waste going on.
And before anyone stops reading because they don’t believe in global warming, or more accurately that man’s actions aren’t responsible for warming the Earth’s atmosphere, consider this: Being smart about energy production and consumption does require adopting Al Gore’s viewpoint. Doesn’t it just make good sense to develop energy practices that will never run out ?
If nothing else, we can see that continued reliance on oil doesn’t make sense economically. A prime example: Rising fuel costs are slowly but surely exacting a financial cost on the area’s rural fire departments, which generally aren’t so flush with cash that massive cost increases won’t have a negative impact.
And then there’s the impact of gas prices on the country’s nonprofits. Meals on Wheels and the Fayetteville Senior Center set a fine example, but one wonders when the cost of getting food to people in need versus the price of filling up the gas tank will force groups like these to cut back services to even the worthiest of clients.
With unleaded gasoline in Northwest Arkansas bound to strike $ 4 a gallon someday soon, one can’t help wondering when customers will hit the “ something’s gotta give ” button. Environmentalists have spent decades shouting that the world must get away from its gasoline addiction. But can it ?
Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal published a fascinating write-up about plug-in electric cars, which many people embrace under the mistaken notion that doing so represents sustainability. Car makers are preparing to introduce what’s being touted as a generation of hybrids that could run up to 40 miles on electric batteries before tapping their gasoline engines.
More efficient ? Yes. Sustainable ? Well, let’s think about this. Where do electric companies get the power that hums through those electrical lines ? Perhaps to some extent through renewable energy sources — such as nuclear, hydroelectric power or wind power — but largely from nonrenewable sources. It makes sense to use that power wisely, but it makes even more sense to use power from a source that will never run out.
We’re encouraged by the growing awareness — perhaps prodded on by the sticker shock at the gas pumps — of the need to explore new energy resources. That doesn’t mean shutting down all the oil fields, but it should mean investing in something smarter for the future.
Sustainability sounds great because it is great. But getting from here to there — to a world that doesn’t trash Mother Earth’s valuable resources — is going to take a long time. In the meantime, higher efficiency helps. Recycling helps. Preserving water quality by avoiding pollution helps.
Mindless consumption simply won’t work anymore.