We are traveling west on I-80 approaching the Continental Divide in Wyoming as I type this. Interstate signs are warning about gusts up to 45 mph and giving advisories to light trailers (that’s us). Meanwhile acres of wind turbines spin gracefully with their longwhite blades near to our left.
Energy policy is one area where the Golden Rule conveniently goes out the window. Do unto others as you would have them do onto you, unless it’s in your backyard. It’s OK for oil refineries, nuclear reactors or wind turbines to go up in other “backyards” but not our own. If someone else had the power to choose which one would go in your back yard which one would you hope they choose? That in turn should dictate your choice ofenergy use and policy, foisting on others the least repugnant or harmful of what you would have foisted on you.
Of course, the trouble is we live in a hierarchical society, no matter how much we tout our privilege to vote. The decision-making capacity of some is “more equal” than the many. The “few” never live where an oil refinery might be placed. The “few” also are much more likely to benefit from an industry backed by an impressive network of think tanks, interest groups, public relations firms and lobbyists paid to inform us how much harm and subsidization occurs with other energy forms except the ones that require the greatest government intervention of all: oil and nuclear.
