Alien viewpoint; Oil is bad, we have to reduce how much we use.

Date:   5/28/2010 1:38:39 PM ( 14 y ago)

"The Alien View"


Sometimes it helps put things in perspective to look at ourselves from the outside. Now that we have made it to the 21st Century, that outside view can be "of an alien". I like using that perspective because it removes all the pre-conceived notions and bias from the scenario.

If an Alien from a planet light years away was observing us, and then came down to talk to me about what they have seen, they might want to talk to me about how we get energy.

Seeing that we Earthlings are using fossil fuels as the main source of energy, they would point out that "by being satisfied with fossil fuels as your main source of energy, you stop looking for other sources of energy". As in, we are not yet motivated to find other ways.

The Alien would tell us about how their race was using fossil fuels too [common to every planet with a history of life], but early on there was some bad spills, and some illnesses attributed to fossil fuels, so they restricted how much could be used and that spurred them on to finding other energy sources. Within 50 years of seeking technical solutions [as alternatives to fossil fuels] for their energy needs they discovered the clean and abundant energy source they now use in everything from lights to spaceships.

"Why, whats the problem with fossil fuels?" we might as the Alien. They would laugh and then get a puzzled look on their odd faces, and then laugh again... "you are kidding, right?" they ask.

"oh, you mean The Gulf spill of 2010, the Exxon-Valdez spill, the secret 1991 spill in the Gulf of Arabia when the war broke out there, and that whole big mess in Alberta with the Tar Sands, and worse than all those is the global warming phenomenon and the way fossil fuels are causing acidification of the oceans?" I would reply.

"Uh-Huh", says the Alien... "And the Wars over Oil, plus the whole economic unbalance thing - you know about that, right? How one dominant industry, like your oil industry, can create elite wealthy people and from there all of society goes downhill?". "It happens a lot on other inhabited planets we have visited, I thought you knew".

So there are plenty of good reasons to quit fossil fuels, but how do we get enough energy then? The Alien assures us that if we simply set limits on fossil fuel use, we would build enough renewables energy infrastructure. "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" they remind us.

"Seriously, you Earthlings just HAVE to get off the juice [oil]. There is plenty of Sun, plenty of wind, and there is definitely a technological source of energy that you do not enough about yet, and we are not going to tell you about, but that we are sure you will find if you look for it."

"Oh ya, just one more thing" the Alien says as they get ready to leave. "It almost seems as if the people selling the oil are actually DISCOURAGING alternative sources of energy, and because they have so much money they also have political influence so nothing will change. This means you are truly f***ED, and your planet is going to be very ugly for several centuries. Good luck with that".

As the Alien leaves, I am left pondering what the ideas he raised. Ha! it is true that the oil industry is acting like a monopoly on energy, keeping us from finding better ways, and that they have the politicians in their pockets!! I thought so. But what other source of energy can we use? Then I saw the note the Alien had left behind, which read "Renewables could supply 50% of your energy, and if you started building it up now you could have that within 10 years".

I guess that is the obvious starting point...


 

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