Live~NRGY

Just in case someone thinks I’m on a mission to raise Hell about the OilSands or any other energy & resource project whether in Alberta or elsewhere.

As far as anything to do with Energy, if there’s 1 pet peeve on my 2 Do List that something needs to be done about it’s this – Nuclear Energy! All wrong no matter how you cut, dice & slice it. There’s no way you can safely handle the waste material after it’s spent and the potential dangers associated with its burial. And that’s when all is peachy and everything goes right about how it’s handled from Top to Bottom of the Logistics of it all. Sure we need Energy, that is obvious. However the cost of these monsters to try and build safely and maintain them and store their spent fuel is absurd beyond belief. And to build them in and around population centers borders almost on the criminal. Prime example – 3 Mile and Chernobyl. Should I be adding another on this stupid list of places where not to build these things, if at all?

We’ve come a long way since these things were first dreamed of in someone’s mind and then made real. At the time it may have seemed like a good idea. Now with alternate sources of wind, solar and other types of energy such as wave powered from ocean tides/currents, surely we can start to invest in something safer and saner for future generations.

So what’s the deal about all this Oil Sands business. I don’t get it. People criticize it to no end, yet nuclear seems to fall off the radar screen.

I am not so naive as to think that it’s a perfect world out there, especially when it comes to the Energy business. However, bad it is or has been in the past, the Oil industry has or will be awakened by those with enough courage to speak up about poor business and environmental practices in the same vein and manner as the forest industry and shall I dare say – clear cutting huge swaths of land. Even in my own opinion, we have lost sight of what is happening in the Amazon forest, our living breathing regenerating organ of this important planet. Look no further than the desserts of today to see the impact of cutting all trees with no mindset at all for the consequences.

I think the Oil Industry in many ways today is well aware of it’s finite supply, yet as any business in business will tell you is that it’s a matter of when there is a demand, there is someone always wanting and willing to provide at any cost to make a profit. Now that the industry is mature enough to understand the public relations nightmares of Exxon Valdez and the BP disaster in the Gulf, image and the environment goes a long way to turn adversarial clients into willing customers.

If anything in my own humble opinion, the problem of the Oil Industry as a whole is rooted in the consumers absolute dependency on energy cheap enough to be addicted to it. The consumer will gladly pass the buck and blame it back to the billion dollar corporations fulfilling their needs. The consumer who is not willing to admit addiction to the black stuff and drives a vehicle, yet criticizes not in my own backyard wind powered installations is out to lunch in my opinion.

If anything the Oil industry will need to keep re-inventing itself until there is no more of the stuff in the ground. By then, we’ll all be on another bandwagon saying not in my own backyard all over again. Isn’t it funny how spirals of energy works!

Anyways the bottom line for me is simple, it there’s a demand and a business willing to fill it, then great go for it and simply be careful about what consumers and people care about. Today, it’s not only about Money and Energy – but how you craft that image and the PR behind it to make it viable. Afterall the engine of global economic grow is jobs and the Oil Industry provides just like Motor City use to – thousands and thousands of jobs – directly and indirectly. Who can complain about secure jobs while raising family in security while living dreams? Do I hear any complaints? Didn’t think so!

Energy makes us all move and gives Life – Dance, Live and Care for it and it’ll give purpose. It’s as simple as that.