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Does Renewable Energy Have To "Win" Over Oil?

Submitted by Ornesha on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 13:42
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The more I look around, the more I see the abounding reasons we’ve all found ourselves in such an energy and environmental pickle. 

There are clearly two, maybe three, industries fighting each other and drawing lines in the sand that have continually led us all to a stalemate situation.   The petroleum, renewable and nuclear industries have been in separate corners of energy production methods and really only seem to agree on one thing:

Their individual way is definitely the best!
So here is the question. Why are people so determined to continue pressing "their way" as the only way? Where, in this world of billions of people, can any assemblage be found with that?
What people think is "best" depends upon who you’re talking to at any given moment. It depends upon what group you happen to be in, where the money is, where you feel impassioned…basically where your individual focus is. Accordingly, as there are many of us on this planet, each with different circumstances and needs, we will tend to get emotionally bent when our favored way doesn’t get the attention it deserves to fulfill those circumstances and needs.
As strange as this sounds coming from me, a treehugger at heart whose focus is on a clean, eco-conscious world, I believe that it’s time to work together for everyone’s sake.
We can probably all agree that the best way to produce energy is through renewables and maybe even a bit of nuclear running in the mix provided the waste is dealt with and utilized in a clean, intelligent fashion (soon to be entering the market). This may poke at some, but the reality is that the power plants already in place do produce a large amount of power to a lot of people. But, designing and developing new nuclear plants isn’t the best avenue since they take many years to construct as opposed to the amount of time it takes to implement most clean technology. Plus, the power output ability with clean tech is closing in fast.
Crude oil refining is hitting that final nerve with humanity and most know and understand that burning fossil fuels simply has too many unhealthy environmental, social, economical and ecological pitfalls attached to it to continue in the same fashion. 
There are very few people who are not deeply hit by the recent consequences of drilling for oil, especially in deepwater questionable regions for the sake of keeping us all on the bottle for one more day. 
But…There is another side to this story about crude oil. There are thousands upon thousands of products that are made from crude oil turned petroleum products. To make a blanket decision that no more oil should be used would then cause a blanket panic across the world, while we all struggled to replace our credit cards, contact lenses and car tires with an environmentally friendly alternative. 
We are intelligent beings and will absolutely figure out a way to cleanly solve the dilemma of petroleum products, but we must also pick our battles in ways that benefit the whole of humanity, and work together to assure that we don’t chop off our nose to spite our face.   
Case in point, here are SOME of the products we use every day that require petroleum. Should we cut ourselves off completely from all forms of oil, I for one, would have to stop and laugh at my own stubbornness and then ask myself how I was going to get to work without tires.
Petroleum Based Products:
Clothing Ink, Heart Valves, Crayons, Parachutes, Telephones, Enamel, Transparent tape, Antiseptics, Vacuum bottles, Deodorant, Pantyhose, Rubbing Alcohol, Carpets, Epoxy paint, Oil filters, Upholstery, Hearing Aids, Car sound insulation, Cassettes, Motorcycle helmets, Pillows, Shower doors, Shoes, Refrigerator linings, Electrical tape, Safety glass, Awnings, Salad bowls, Rubber cement, Nylon rope, Ice buckets, Fertilizers, Hair coloring, Toilet seats, Denture adhesive, Loudspeakers, Movie film, Fishing boots, Candles, Water pipes, Car enamel, Shower curtains, Credit cards, Aspirin, Golf balls, Detergents, Sunglasses, Glue, Fishing rods, Linoleum, Plastic wood, Soft contact lenses, Trash bags, Hand lotion, Shampoo, Shaving cream, Footballs, Paint brushes, Balloons, Fan belts, Umbrellas, Paint Rollers, Luggage, Antifreeze, Model cars, Floor wax, Sports car bodies, Tires, Dish washing liquids, Unbreakable dishes, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Combs, Tents, Hair curlers, Lipstick, Ice cube trays, Electric blankets, Tennis rackets, Drinking cups, House paint, Roller skate wheels, Guitar strings, Ammonia, Eyeglasses, Ice chests, Life jackets, TV cabinets, Car battery cases, Insect repellent, Refrigerants, Typewriter ribbons, Cold cream, Glycerin, Plywood adhesive, Cameras, Anesthetics, Artificial turf, Artificial Limbs, Bandages, Dentures, Mops, Beach Umbrellas, Ballpoint pens, Boats, Nail polish, Golf bags, Caulking, Tape recorders, Curtains, Vitamin capsules, Dashboards, Putty, Percolators, Skis, Insecticides, Fishing lures, Perfumes, Shoe polish, Petroleum jelly, Faucet washers, Food preservatives, Antihistamines, Cortisone, Dyes,
LP records, Solvents and Roofing to name a few.
Source(s):
 
My closing point in this is simply to reiterate that the oil industry is by no means going to be a things of our past anytime soon.
And while it is obvious that we should and are transitioning the way we power and fuel our lives by integrating clean technology into our current systems, there is a fairly deep dependence on the above list of consumer products produced from oil.
 
We are transitioning the way we power and fuel our lives by integrating renewable energy into current systems. The burning of oil has proven again and again that it is not a clean or safe practice for our environment. But if we continue to remain stubborn in our thinking that we’re not all in this together, or continue to use outdated methods of energy production, we will be the bane of our own future and to that of our future ancestors. There is no reason all involved cannot benefit both financially and environmentally by the formation of energy consortiums to address the whole of the issue. 
There is power in numbers. Change is inevitable. We have the power to choose our destiny. Is there really a choice between clean and dirty anymore?

Peace!

O