A double-edged sword is twice as dangerous. Because it could also harm the bearer, if they lost their balance. World values went out of balance in the 1960’s when we started consuming energy as if there were no tomorrow. This could still turn out to be the case. We are beginning to learn that energy consumption is a double-edged sword too.
How World Energy Consumption Went Viral
Nations emerged from World War 2 with new technology from their military effort. As arms production trailed off, they had a surplus of factories.
So they turned them to making consumer goods they never needed before. The system fed off itself.
Everybody aspired to an automobile, a television set, clothing made from the ‘miracle fabric’ nylon, and every ‘modern convenience’. Increased energy consumption demanded bigger and bigger power stations. We were in the heart of the Coal Age. We began to store carbon in our atmosphere.
The Double Edges of the Energy Sword
The new coal power stations contributed to accelerating global warming, but there was more to come. Our shiny new gasoline automobiles added to the pollution cloud, while our discarded gadgets and gizmos soon grew into huge garbage dumps.
Our earth began to go out of balance but we did not know it yet.
The 20th Century saw global energy consumption grow twenty-fold because of fossil coal and oil.
In 2004, fossil was still supplying 86% of the world’s energy according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Where does this leave us? Where do we go? We evolved because we are adaptable, but how adaptable are we really.
Perhaps the ‘a’ in adaptable is to accept the new normal. The new normal is the future of our civilization depends on you and me. This not something to leave pending on a politician’s desk.
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Preview Image: Fields outside Benambra, Victoria, Australia in Drought
