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I enjoyed Phil Thompson's submission on wind energy, and I am sure that generating electricity using wind has an important place in a sustainable future for the Maritimes. I am also sure that solar energy is critical, used both directly in "passive" devices, and indirectly in generating electricity. In my opinion, ocean-wave energy should play an important role in the future; and with caution, tidal power can also be harnessed. "Biogas" (methane from decaying vegetation) is a useful fuel on a small scale. If used properly, these are thoroughly sustainable energy sources, but they are not the most important part of a sustainable energy future. Conservation and energy efficiency is where the greatest advances towards energy sustainability can be made. We have a gluttonous culture, and this above all else is what makes our culture unsustainable. Only when we begin to deal seriously with this aspect of sustainability can we properly apply sustainable technologies, for these technologies alone cannot deal with the problem of energy demand. I believe it is impossible to understand sustainability without understanding unsustainability. Our economic "system" is founded in an unsustainable paradigm: "economic growth". This so-called "system" is driven by beliefs that consumption is good, and that competition to consume and control is healthy. These are beliefs in unsustainability. I believe there cannot be a sustainable future until we fully realize that these, and other, fundamental facets of our culture have to be examined as objectively as we examine energy technology. We need economists who provide economic models for de-growth and steady-state. We need sociologists who provide sociological models for de-population with social harmony. We need consumer advocates who advocate non-consumption, conservation, efficiency, and re-use. We need elected officials who represent what is in people's hearts, not what is in their pockets. In the end, we have to start loving the Earth and all its beings enough to reduce the personal greed on which our fundamentally flawed economy feeds. There is a moral imperative here; our economic culture is immoral .... just watch a few television advertisements and ask yourself, "What are these people advocating in the long term?" It's plain disgusting, and we should not shy away from saying so! Martin Willison -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca To submit a message to sust-mar, please send it to: mailto:sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca PLEASE SEND MESSAGES TO SUST-MAR IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY MESSAGES CONTAINING HTML (MIME) CANNOT BE POSTED
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