I like bananas

I bought some today. They were inexpensive and abundant. The sticker on one of them said that it was a product of Guatemala. I assume that the other bananas in the bunch came from the same place.

I like grapes too. I bought some red ones and some green ones. Both kinds turned out to be very fresh and tasty. They too were inexpensive and abundant. The bags they came in said that they were a product of Chile.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your grandparent or some other old person used to lecture you about how they had to walk 5 miles to school each day. The snow drifts were 10 feet deep (not unlike they are in my part of Missouri today) and it was uphill both directions. And they were so poor they were lucky to get an orange for Christmas.

Guess what? Back in the early part of the 20th century it was a big deal to get an orange in the mid-western states. They had to be shipped by rail to a terminal and then be hauled to local markets on wagons or primitive trucks. They weren't inexpensive and they certainly weren't abundant.

Our entire economy is based on just-in-time deliveries. We take it for granted that the supermarket shelves will always be stocked to overflowing with reasonably priced fresh produce. We are able to take it for granted because petroleum based energy is cheap and abundant. But what if that were to change? Have you noticed what is going on in Egypt? Do you know how much of the world's oil supply passes through the Suez Canal? If that thought doesn't send a chill down your spine it ought to.

It will surprise most Americans to learn that the majority of our petroleum comes from Canada. They want to build a new pipeline to facilitate delivery of that oil to us. That's a good thing. There is no safer or less expensive way to transport petroleum than via pipeline. Which is why this headline pisses me off:

Pipeline Safety Concerns Threaten Oil Route's Expansion

"The U.S. State Department will decide in the first quarter whether it approves another TransCanada Corp.'s pipeline that will bring crude from Alberta's oil sands to the Gulf Coast refineries. But a group of environmentalists, politicians and regulators says the State Department should take a closer look at the especially corrosive nature of the crude-oil itself."

BULLSHIT!

It's about time the grownups in this country retake control of the conversation. Sure, I'd like to see cars and trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells too, but that technology is decades away from any meaningful implementation. And electric cars are a farce. We're told that the goal is to have 10 million electric vehicles on the road in the next 10 years. There are 250 million gas or diesel powered vehicles today. Do you think that replacing 4% of them is going to make a difference?

Whether we like it or not, we're stuck with petroleum based energy for at least the near to mid term. Do you want a more sustainable lifestyle in the long term? Outstanding! I want that too. But until that gilded day I'd like to not have the economy collapse and I'd damn sure like to keep getting fresh food during the middle of the winter in Missouri.

Okay, you can go back to watching reruns of, "The Simpsons," now. I'm sure someone besides you will make a reasoned decision on your behalf.