While I am having this meditation on “living off the land”, I have said that this is not a discussion about primitive living. It is not log cabins and horses…though I like both. It is about living with the Earth. It is about making the Earth the first consideration in everything we do. It is recognizing that Burning Things Up is a primitive behavior and one unfitting of 21 century humans. I am not talking about camp fires or barbecues here. I am talking about 500 coal fired power plants. I am talking about 115 nuclear power plants that if we are not careful will be killing things long after we as a species are gone. This also means rejecting all growth oriented economic models, because they rely on overpopulation and over production which, along with our Burning Behavior, are killing the Earth. But here is the growth view of Energy Independence. Kinda frightening don’t you think?
http://www.americanenergyindependence.com/
Energy Independence is a civilization changing idea
Oil is a natural source of energy, but it is not the only source of energy. With the help of new technology, America’s energy needs can be obtained from sources other than petroleum. American technology has put a man on the moon, mapped the human genome, and successfully landed robotic exploration vehicles on Mars. It seems reasonable to believe that American scientists and engineers could also develop environmentally safe alternative energy technology that would free America, and the world, from oil dependence.
President Barack Obama
“At a time of such great challenge for America, no single issue is as fundamental to our future as energy. America’s dependence on oil is one of the most serious threats that our nation has faced. It bankrolls dictators, pays for nuclear proliferation, and funds both sides of our struggle against terrorism. It puts the American people at the mercy of shifting gas prices, stifles innovation and sets back our ability to compete.”
Address given at the White House January 26, 2009
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/Fromperiltoprogress/ Obama at the White House January 26, 2009 –>
Journey to Energy Independence
Following the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the idea of energy independence captured the imagination of the American people. Then during the 1980’s, the accumulative effect of increased automobile fuel efficiency combined with increased global oil production created a surplus of oil on the world market. As a result, the price of oil dropped back below pre-1973 levels and America’s enthusiasm for energy independence faded into memory. Now, more than thirty years after the oil embargo, re-awakened by the terrorist attack on 9/11 and war in the Middle East, the idea of American energy independence has returned with a vengeance, becoming a powerful force shaping the political views of a new generation of Americans.
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http://www.energyindependencenow.org/
Energy Independence Now (EIN) is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing innovative, action-oriented solutions to catalyze a rapid transition to a clean, renewable energy and transportation economy in California through policy, advocacy and research.
PHILOSOPHY
EIN believes that the urgency and the massive scale of the climate change, petroleum dependence, and air quality challenges facing California and the world warrant solutions that are immediate, diverse and far reaching. EIN believes that any and all vehicle technologies and alternative fuels that hold the promise of addressing these challenges should be actively pursued. In short, we advocate in support of a “silver buckshot” approach where there is no “silver bullet.” In addition, we believe it is critical to advocate for both the deployment of immediate, near-term solutions as well as longer-term solutions that will help us achieve 2050 climate goals.
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I mean they have pictures of children and blue skies and woman scientists but they are still talking go go capitalism.
http://apolloalliance.org/about/mission/
Our Mission
The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs. Inspired by the Apollo space program, we promote investments in energy efficiency, clean power, mass transit, next-generation vehicles, and emerging technology, as well as in education and training. Working together, we will reduce carbon emissions and oil imports, spur domestic job growth, and position America to thrive in the 21st century economy.
Background
Apollo was launched in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America, a revolution in the way our country generates and uses energy so profound that it will touch literally every quarter of American life. Harkening back to President Kennedy’s visionary call to restore America’s technological leadership by landing the first man on the Moon within the decade, the Apollo Alliance spoke directly to the core values we share as Americans: our can-do spirit, our inherent optimism, and the pride we feel (or want to feel) about our country’s place in the world. The subtext was clear: we did it before, we can do it again. This is America, the richest, most technologically advanced and industrious country in the world. If anyone can do it, we can. And we will.
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Which leads to this on the other side…see they are both debating growth models of energy:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/03/17/the-myth-of-energy-independence.html
The Myth of Energy Independence
Q&A with Robert Bryce, author of ‘Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence’
By Justin Ewers
Posted March 17, 2008
George W. Bush says he’s for it. So do Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Nancy Pelosi. On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama promise they’ll work toward it. What has inspired all of this bipartisan enthusiasm? Energy independence, the notion that by turning to greener energy sources like ethanol and wind power, we can not only help the environment—and slow global warming—but create millions of new jobs and, most important, wall ourselves off from the murderous petro states of the Middle East.
If it all sounds too good to be true, that may be because it is, argues Robert Bryce in Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence, published this week. Bryce, managing editor of Energy Tribune magazine, lays out the case against the short-term viability of all of today’s renewable energy
darlings: ethanol, wind, and solar power. No matter what the pols say, he insists, for the foreseeable future, oil, coal, and natural gas are here to stay. U.S. News spoke with Bryce about fossil fuels, global warming—and the promises of politicians.
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Even the left has to get in on it. But again they are talking growth here:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/05/seven-myths-energy-independence
The Seven Myths of Energy Independence
Why forging a sustainable energy future is dependent on foreign oil
—By Paul Roberts
Put another way, the “debate” over energy independence is not only disingenuous, it’s also a major distraction from the much more crucial question—namely, how we’re going to build a secure and sustainable energy system. Because what America should be striving for isn’t energy independence, but energy security—that is, access to energy sources that are reliable and reasonably affordable, that can be deployed quickly and easily, yet are also safe and politically and environmentally sustainable. And let’s not sugarcoat it. Achieving real, lasting energy security is going to be extraordinarily hard, not only because of the scale of the endeavor, but because many of our assumptions about energy—about the speed with which new technologies can be rolled out, for example, or the role of markets—are woefully exaggerated. High oil prices alone won’t cure this ill: We’re burning more oil now than we were when crude sold for $25 a barrel. Nor will Silicon Valley utopianism: Thus far, most of the venture capital and innovation is flowing into status quo technologies such as biofuels. And while Americans have a proud history of inventing ourselves out of trouble, today’s energy challenge is fundamentally different. Nearly every major energy innovation of the last century—from our cars to transmission lines—was itself built with cheap energy. By contrast, the next energy system will have to contend with larger populations and be constructed using far fewer resources and more expensive energy.
So it’s hardly surprising that policymakers shy away from energy security and opt instead for the soothing platitudes of energy independence. But here’s the rub: We don’t have a choice. Energy security is nonnegotiable, a precondition for all security, like water or food or defense. Without it, we have no economy, no progress, no future. And to get it, we’ll not only have to abandon the chimera of independence once and for all, but become the very thing that many of us have been taught to dread—unrepentant energy globalists.
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Welcome to our free online resource for off-grid living.
In the summer of 1980, my wife, three-month old son and I moved “off-grid”. We loved living in San Francisco but wanted to live a simpler, more independent lifestyle, and so we bought a small cabin with land on a rural island in the Pacific Northwest. Since there were no services to the island, our home had no electricity. Residents of the island had to create their own electricity or do without.
Any discussion of alternatives should begin with the 2007 Department of Energy study showing that building out our wind capacity in the Great Plains – from northern Texas to the Canadian border – would produce 138,000 new jobs in the first year, and more than 3.4 million new jobs over a ten-year period, while also producing as much as 20 percent of our needed electricity.
