Watching the world from the sky

A story on National Public Radio this past week described an avalanche in Alaska and how it damaged power supply lines to Juneau. Electricity normally supplied by a hydro plant, were shifted to diesel generators and electric bills were five times as high as normal.

For some businesses, it was the difference between $10,000 and $50,000 a month, and the implications are sobering.

Though temporary, these changes are increasingly reflected in everyone's lives. Energy costs are driving up the costs of the very essentials of modern life. Schools in the United States are beginning to burn wood. Farms in my area are beginning to sport windmills on top of silos, and in other areas fields of windmills are appearing on lands that were cultivated for food.

The fossil fuel based economy didn't last long. Not much more than a hundred years, but why aren't we moving forward? Back in the 70's gasoline shortages were manipulated to reduce retail competition, but Japanese car makers began to send the first small cars across the pond. The Datsun B210 was the first car to boast 50 mpg. Why aren't we seeing those cars now, 33 years later?

Maybe we'll soon see the next generation of sustainable, efficient, energy emerge. Something where the cure won't be worse than the disease.

And already people are experiencing life bigger, whether it is food shortages, wars, shifts in economic development or ...celebrations. At last people can see the future with a world view. That's got to be good for humanity, the advancement and protection of the planet.