I’m not talking about the kind of cheap oil that goes into Girl Scout Cookies and other forms of industrialized junk food. Its the oil that comes out of the ground that I’m thinking about! Created tens of thousands of years ago from prehistoric animals, not cottonseeds or soybeans.
After spending the day meeting with Transition Westchester and talking about creating a positive response to crazy scary things like peak oil, climate change and economic instability, I spent the evening at home watching There Will be Blood.
Oil was first discovered in western Pennsylvania in the mid 1850’s. Once found, oil was pretty easy to get. Dig a hole, watch the stuff fly on out! Oil was easy, cheap and plentiful. For many decades, our country was basically the “Saudi Arabia” of oil. It fueled our economic expansion. The US reached “peak oil” back in 1970 as was predicted by Dr. M. King Hubbert a geophysicist back in 1956. After our domestic oil production peaked, we started to import oil from other countries. Now, decades later, it looks like oil production world wide may be at its peak. This peak moment has real economic and every day impact for all of us.
Let me be clear on one thing, we’re not talking about running completely out of oil, that is still many years away. Transition groups like the one now forming in Westchester is considering what life will be like when fossil fuels become significantly more expensive. We’ll be re-thinking what we eat, what we do for fun, how we’ll live. Right now, our food, our livelihoods and our fun are directly a result of cheap oil. How will that change when gas hits $50 or $100 a gallon? It could happen as we deplete the world’s remaining oil. At $100 a gallon, there is no question that 99% of us would have to make some serious changes. Food from far away would become super-expensive. Local food will be more than just a “foodie” trend, it will become a necessary way of life.
“Dig the well before you are thirsty” Chinese Proverb
The time is now to re-think what we eat and how we live in the face of more expensive energy sources. There is no better time than right now to get involved in a community garden or to transform your lawn into an edible garden. Check out this great site on how to become a hyperlocavore and get your hands dirty!
