Be Green

Learn win-win results through conservation efforts.

Quite simply, we have become accustomed to cheap and plentiful goods, services and energy. And our world has made it increasingly difficult to recycle, reuse and repair. A villager living by a flowing, fresh water stream pays little attention to their leaky bucket.

With the average price of gasoline below $1.50 per gallon from 1982 through 2003, we enjoyed even bigger cars, trucks and SUVs. Why worry about mileage, when gas was so plentiful and relatively cheap?

How quickly we forget: only God’s promises come with a forever guarantee. Political turmoil, the falling dollar, war and the power of the OPEC cartel pushed the price per gallon of gas in 2008 in the United States of America up to levels close to what is common in Canada and Continental Europe.

• It was a problem of our own making…
• In 1963, 20% of all oil consumed in the US came from foreign suppliers. By 2006, domestic output fell and foreign oil made up over 60% of our needs.
• Garyville, Louisiana saw the last US refinery built. The year was 1976.
• The push for alternative fuels sputtered as oil lowered to $11 per barrel in 1998. Over the next decade, the cost of oil rose 1,127% to exceed $124 per barrel in July 2008.
• Our total 2007 bill for foreign oil was $332.23 billion, more than 46% of our total foreign trade deficit.

As Americans realized the unintended consequences of decades of environmental and governmental policy making, it is good to note how effective capitalism and changes in leadership have resolved many of the challenges in our country over the past 10 years.

By 2018, oil imports in the USA were reduced 75% to $81 billion, only 13% of the total foreign trade deficit. With increased production of oil in the US, our country is moving to be a net exported of crude oil and the cost of a barrel has evened out between $50 and $60 a barrel.

As a nation, as business professionals and as individuals, we should continually evaluate long-term strategies and sensible behaviors to safeguard our economy, national interests and environment.

“The most interesting thing about change in the environment is that for the most part the environment isn’t changing.” – Kevin Kelly (Editor – Whole Earth Catalogue, 1952-)

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