VERNON — While driving around town, I continually notice individuals driving in a manner that wastes fuel and energy.
They stomp on the gas pedal like there's no tomorrow. They're all driving so fast and furious I wonder what can be more important than conserving energy, relaxing, and enjoying the great countryside scenery we have.
Over the last several years, there has been a call to reduce the amount of energy we use so that we can rely on renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro. With these sources available, it is believed that the need for nuclear power would not be so great, and that we could live without it if we could learn to conserve.
We could be shutting our lights off, turning the thermostat down, and setting water heaters at lower temperatures, to name a few options.
However, I see a problem here. With gas prices so high, how can anyone believe that we will reduce the amount of energy we use when we can't even conserve such costly fuel in our vehicles?
As long as we continue to take our energy supply for granted, driving inefficiently, leaving lights on, heating our homes so aggressively, and so on, we won't conserve anything. Why should we until we're forced to?
With the lack of focus on conservation when the consumption is higher all the time, we need to keep nuclear power in our mix of energy options.
Wind, solar, and hydro alone cannot provide the amount of energy needed for such a wasteful society.