All,
I'd just point out that your needs are greatly dependent on the climate you live in. I've spent my last 55 years in California, now in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The winter minimums are as low as 10 F (-5 C?), but the sun shines ~300 days a year. Unfortunately, the population growth has been pretty hard on the state over my lifetime. Fortunately, many of the newcomers live down in the LA area, and only have a remote effect on those of us living in the north.
I've had solar hot water for ~20+ years, even with a couple fridges and and freezer my elec. bill lately has been closer to $30 than to $40 USD. Even my wood stove has a water jacket in it, when the stove gets hot enough, my water heater is pumped full of hot water. Burn about 2 cords+ per winter (that I cut myself), have a passive solar home, with attached greenhouse.
I filled my 280 gallon propane tank a couple years ago, still almost 1/2 full. I have too many old vehicles, but they are all paid for, and try not to use them except when necessary. Yeah fuel is expensive, but maybe this will finally convince us all that oil, coal, gas sources of fossil fuel were formed over 300 million years ago, are pretty rare, have a lot of pollution impacts, and we really shouldn't waste them.
Having said that, those of you living where there are coal sources nearby, the amount you burn, and the associated pollutants released are probably really irrelevant in the over all scheme of things. The problem is all the other components of our power systems.
If we would stop doing silly things like shipping products that are mainly water over thousands of miles so that various forms of sweetened, carbonated water is a $0.05 cheaper, (Buy it by the case at your nearest box store!)
The diesel (and gas) burned moving silly stuff around our country is just astounding. (I don't mean to particularly pick on Diet Pepsi, or what ever your particular favorite is, but we really should pay for the consequences of burning fossil fuel to get cheap stuff.)
We've had a glut of cheap stuff lately, (How much plastic crap can you afford anyway?), now we need to decide what is really important to us, and only buy that. I personally own a Listeroid, but haven't had occasion to use it lately. Trying to get an engine shed built for shelter, but that's another story. Yeah, I know, lots of people are going to get hurt economically, and change is always painful. Sorry, you all, but what can you do?
The issue really is, if we stop wasting the enormous amounts of fossil fuels, burning a bit of coal, especially in an efficient way will have a negligible effect on greenhouse gases. The change in fossil fuel use that is emerging from the "crisis" that we are undergoing is/will change the way our economy operates. How it will turn out is yet to be seen.
Not to start a fuss, but though we got adequate snow/rain fall this year, we just had the driest March and April on record, it has turned hot, dry and windy -- fires are going to be a problem this year. IMHO, the climate is really changing fast, whether fossil fuel is the culprit, I really don't know. I know some of you may be drowning in rain, or freezing cold, but that is one of the characteristics of climate change, it is, well, changeable. What are the major downsides of weaning our economies from fossil fuels? Don't know the answer, but I think we are going to find out.
Try to find a reason to smile today. It's really good for you!
:)Ray
