Fuel,Sustainability ,Industry and Lifestyle
With the focus being very much in Australia on the so called fuel crisis with soaring petrol prices we seem to forget some of the basic binds and links and grab for easy solutions to our transport woes.Such things as the following ill conceived strategy whom many may have received in their email inboxes recently (or if your lucky your junkmail box!)below is one silly example...
… ‘Send it on to your mates!! (no don't!...my words not theirs)
HI all, I really agree with this. The first increases were almost acceptable due to world conditions and Hurricane Katrina but now the oil companies are making a mockery of the situation. Please follow these instructions and forward to as many friends as you can and DO NOT BUY PETROL ON THE 22nd OF SEPTEMBER.
22 September - No petrol day.
IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN
AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.
THEREFORE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF PETROL THAT DAY. THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.
WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION SINCE WORLD PRICES BEGAN TO FALL YESTERDAY?
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.
SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 22nd A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF
Please don’t send the above on to your mates as is requested.Its quite a naïve and ill conceived exercise which doesn’t address some of the basic assumptions i.e. that petrol is a polluting luxury in many ways and we are far too reliant on cheap polluting fuels.As to the calculations and premise that any fuel company would worry too much if a small group of customers refuse to buy petrol on a given day…I doubt the effectiveness and directions of such action…I understand the sentiment though.I am sure no one is happy about our reliance on fuel oils for our energy needs and exhorbitant profits to very influential oil companies…but what is our part in the cycle…? and apart from seeing our selves as victims what can we do to relieve our collective transport and economic pains?
What is the issue?The issue is that in Australia have not supported and developed enough a sustainable energy policy that fully incorporates and promotes alternative energy usages and lifestyle changes that are more ‘green’but also less reliant on hydrocarbons.Secondly not enough thought goes into promoting incentives to make changes in lifestyle.One of the key drivers for and against is of our the ease with which we can use cars locally in Perth and indeed most of Western Australia/Australia with relatively cheap petrol.Of course the lack of a collective/communal feeling of responsibility for sharing resources goes against us as well.It makes it hard to even contemplate pooling cars to work etc.as a first base change to lifestyle and immediate reliever of costs with very little economic or social change required.The other great driver ‘s of course, where we spend over half our waking lives and that is the workplace.Not enough businesses are making a shift to cleaner , leaner fuel and energy consumption practices and encouraging workers to innovate in this area.This of course is also born out of a lack of a feeling of responsibility for our community or societal directions and decisions.How do we change the situation though?.Well what amazes me is that there is so much activity and resource that is going into ‘sustainable ‘practices and networks locally and nationally…but it has not had as much an influence as it should in the mainstream and our suburbs.
I provide the below links as examples of some the groups and networks that can be accessed locally and internationally via the internet.Ciao and speak further on this issue of networks and lifestyle change.
http://www.somervilleecovillage.com.au/festival/index.htm
http://www.wacollaboration.org.au
