It wasn’t a silent spring at all. It was Tuesday, April 6th, 2020, and in every town or city in the country, it was town meeting day. Slowly, national government ceased to exist. Some philosophers predicted anarchy, but instead, the government became very town-based. All of a sudden, the leaves fell, and a new earth existed. The local hardware store down the street reigned supreme over box stores, because box stores became meaningless. Global trade was dead. Every oil drilling tower in the world was replaced with an offshore windmill. In New England, all the abandoned box stores were turned into biospheres, where vegetables were grown in the winter. The highly questionable business that we call McDonalds stopped giving away plastic garbage with Happy Meals. As a matter of fact, McDonalds disappeared completely, and America no longer had an obesity problem. Kids exercised for fun, spent long hours working in gardens, and people were no longer dependent on cars to go everywhere. Is this our future? It may well be.
Scientists predict that we will reach peak oil, or the point at which the rate of worldwide oil production begins to decrease, by the end of the decade. Alternative energy forms don’t totally solve the problem, because it takes petroleum products to deliver the energy to consumers. However, any little bit helps. We need to seriously explore the use of them. Why can’t we have offshore windmills, for example? My family drives a Prius. Why doesn’t everyone? Why don’t we put pressure on car companies to make more energy-saving vehicles? In Brazil, 7 out of 10 new cars run on Ethanol made from sugar cane. Why don’t ours? Why is the Bush administration cutting money for a national railway system? That would save a lot of fuel. As consumers, it is also our responsibility to put pressure on companies like McDonalds that continually promote junk, waste petroleum, and make “disposable” products that go straight to our landfills.
Contrary to many politicians, I think that we have more to worry about than protecting “our” oil fields in the Middle East. We need to be turning to our communities to begin preparation for a world with far less petroleum. We need to begin now to create community disaster management plans. This should be a first priority. Tompkins County, New York has an extensive plan. Why doesn’t every community have one? How are we going to feed the population? In cold areas, how are we going to heat our homes? Does this mean we should have other living arrangements? How are community gardens going to be constructed to serve our needs? How will we grow things in the winter? There is no use pretending that peak oil isn’t going to happen, but most people are doing just that.
What can I, as a high school student, do to help? I need to think about the issues. Voting for politicians who are doing things about this issue when I’m 18 will obviously help, but for now, I need to educate myself. Boycotting environmentally wasteful companies will help, too. Walking and bicycling save a lot of oil, as well as carpooling. In addition to educating myself, now that I know about the problem, I have a responsibility to educate others. Spreading the word to my peers is the most helpful thing I can do. After all, my generation is one that is going to be seriously affected. I am a member of my school newspaper, The Extempore, as well as a radio show. I will write editorials and informational articles targeted towards my peers, and even my teachers. This is a fabulous way to make people “think conservation.”
Peak oil is a serious problem that is not going to go away. People need to learn more about it, and there are ways that we can prepare, but it seems like a lot of people are unaware of the magnitude of the problem. Before I wrote this essay, I was unaware. Who knows, maybe even my writing of this essay will inspire others.