A Declaration of Independence
Happy 4th of July, or Independence Day America! 235 years ago this nation declared independence from the rule of Imperial Britain. Religious, economic and personal freedom was the alluring promise of this “new land”. Liberty of spirit is a very powerful and desirable thing. Thus, the collective thinking and might of the people was to resist control in any way…and that we did and will continue to do.
A declaration of anything is really meaningless unless there is action to back it up. It takes continual sacrifice, fighting, suffering, ingenuity, collaboration, creativeness, etc to break and stay free from the powers that be. Americans have tirelessly fought, suffered and worked to protect certain freedoms over the years. I am thankful for this and enjoy my religious, speech and other liberties daily. What better day than Independence Day to address those “other” liberties and freedoms that we are willing to stand by and let erode. What about energy independence and the freedom to travel? This liberty and what most people think of as a right(to drive a car) is being pinched daily. Clearly this is an important and pressing issue as our last 8 presidents made grand and specific declarations around it. See them say it for yourself here.
So, if this has been an issue for a long time so why are we collectively digressing? It is getting worse as our loved ones, jobs, schools and activities seem to spread further apart and it costs way more to travel between them. We are totally dependent on One(1) kind of energy for travel and this energy is mostly foreign or sourced well outside our community. The stirring declarations for energy independence have not been backed by action. We have collectively failed to sacrifice, fight, suffer, create, collaborate and invent our way to energy independence. Individually and on small communal scale some of us have taken action.
The veggie oil, biodiesel, and alternative fuel community is making inroads and backing our declarations of travel and energy independence with action. We sacrifice money, ford Mustangs, clothes sweat and offer ingenuity and creativity to break free. And freedom tastes mighty sweet. What else would make us throw around nasty 35lb boxes of oil in the middle of the night, slither around the oil underbelly of our vehicles and stay up late at night thinking about conversion components? We now have a choice in how to fuel our travels, and we rarely opt for Exxon-Mobil-Shell-Enron’s juice.
I know this isn’t THE answer and not practical for everyone, but I realized there is not an answer for everyone (like cheap oil). There is no single engine, fuel or method that will ever replace cheap oil. I believe oil can be replaced, and our energy independence regained if we adopt diverse methods and means. Fortunately there are many methods, like an ever increasing amount of alternative fuels, more efficient means of transportation, live/work communities, local food production, ride-sharing, tele-commuting etc. The means and methods are here. We just have to do it!
-Jason Jelonek