Detox For Oil Addicts

Have you ever driven a Hummer?
Do you remember that feeling of superiority looking down at the civilians driving mere cars? Compared to a Hummer a Geo is just another bump in the road. You can barely hear the crunch over the maniacal ranting of Rush Limbaugh blasting from the radio. God bless amplifiers and sub-woofers.

Those were the days when climate change was an adjustment of the air conditioning. The Iraq War was justified because Saddam was building nuclear weapons, or aiding terrorist, or just a bad man. Well whatever the reason was it wasn’t because of oil. No we were going there to defend ourselves and give democracy to the Iraqis. Besides we had a right, as Americans beloved by God, to those oil reserves.

The bottom line is might makes right. That’s why drivers of mighty SUV’s laugh at the mere mortals driving compact cars, at least until gas hit $3 a gallon. There’s nothing funny about paying $80 to fill your tank. But the sting doesn’t stop there. Raw goods must be shipped to the manufacturer, manufactured goods have to be shipped to the consumer and many products are made of oil and oil byproducts.

The cost of oil reverberates through the economy and inflation is building momentum. But these are financial cost. The cost of America’s oil addiction cut much deeper. Moral and ethical boundaries have been crossed so many times our allies don’t know whether we can be trusted. In the name of a “War On Terror” we have spied on our own citizens without warrant, kidnapped, tortured and killed. Most of the victims had no ties to terrorist. How can we bring democracy to other nations while destroying it at home?

But I digress; the point I’m making is oil addiction has economic, ecological and moral consequences. Some people think they’ve done their part by driving a fuel-efficient car, some like Critical Mass, go a little farther by combining activism and exercise with transportation. I think we need to take one more logical leap. When buying goods consider choices that use less oil during manufacturing and shipping.

My personal fight against oil addiction includes growing vegetables in a backyard raised bed garden. I till the soil with a spade and I use no oil to walk it in to the house. The opposite would be to go to Supermarket to buy veggies from south of the border. You don’t know what chemicals or conditions they were grown in. My wife likes to mow the yard with a push mower, great exercise and lower maintenance than a power mower.

Remember all those manufacturing jobs that were shipped overseas? Well all that shipping uses a lot of oil and sends our money overseas. Global trade is one hell of a boondoggle for the oil companies. The “Free Trade” myth has made wealthy folks much richer, but most of the world, including you, me, and future generations are worse off.

If you are concerned about your local economy, global ecology or just removing the motivation for the horrendous behavior by our government, vote with your wallet. Limit your consumption. When you do need something support shops and manufacturers based locally, buy second-hand goods, plant your own garden or buy food from farmers markets, bicycle, bus, and laugh at those poor fools still driving SUV’s.