Save and Conserve

I'm currently reading the novel Pompeii about the eruption in 79AD of Mount Vesuvius. As everyone knows, this famous eruption was catastrophic; life and society in Pompeii completely ended on one August day.

What is striking about the tale is how people ignored warning signs. Pompeii had experienced a major earthquake about a dozen years before the eruption. Tremors and minor shocks were very common in the years between the big earthquake and the eruption, leading to complacency. Tremors in the days immediately prior to the eruption, however, were much more significant because the magma was pushing the earth's crust as it rose and pressure built.

The writing was on the fresco, so to speak. And yet no viable action was taken to deal with the lurking crisis. Can you imagine walking around Pompeii and feeling a massive shock - a tremor more powerful than any other you had felt before - and just putting it out of mind? Wouldn't you be curious about that tremor and wondering what caused it to be so powerful?

Are we living in the modern day Pompeii? Evidence of global warming surrounds us. And yet we pour more CO2 into the air every year.

Global production of oil is in a 2 year plateau even though prices have been at historical highs (which should encourage producers to increase production). US oil production has been in decline since the early 70s and we have become increasingly dependent upon foreign sources of black gold. And yet we hear about how the US needs to become energy independent from the politicians.

How can we move away from oil when we don't subsidize alternative sources of energy, Mr. Politician? This new Congress needs to come up to speed NOW about these critical issues. I'm encouraged when I read that the Senate is getting good information, but that is not enough. It's not enough to hear:

After closing the hearing, Senator Bingaman was surrounded by reporters. Did he think that Congress was now ready to raise fuel efficiency standards? Bingaman said he did not know, and walked away.

Choosing not to act will be akin to pretending everything was normal in Pompeii the night before the eruption. History teaches us how that choice turned out.