I say "yes!" It's just time to quit believing in the vested interests that seem to be implying that fossil fuels are forever or even a good choice. I read this excellent article from Rolling Stone ( http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719) talking about the level of climate change we're looking at if we burn the remaining fossil fuel reserves, not to mention how many mountains would be leveled, and it is quite sobering. We are "looking down the barrel" of extreme changes on this planet. The polar ice is melting at an alarming rate. If it all melts, as it did many millions of years ago, the ocean levels would be over 400 feet higher than they are now. Many islands and coastal areas and, yes, even some entire countries would simply become ocean floor, not to mention higher temps causing crop failures and more severe wildfires. There is a lot of coal left to burn but this isn't really a "good thing" because coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, putting more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which will amplify the already staggering amount of global warming, and toxic substances such as mercury which poison the air, water and soil.
The only problem I find with most approaches to environmental destruction is that they try to legislate a better future but take our individual life style out of the equation. In the area where I live (Western North Carolina), every time you flick the lights on, you are burning coal that is coming from mountaintop removal in West Virginia, unless you are using renewable energy such as solar, wind or hydroelectric. These are all viable options. Solar panels can be bought at astonishingly low prices now, I've seen them for around 75 cents a watt on this website. When I first started buying solar panels 4 years ago, three dollars and change was a cheap price. What I am saying, and I am largely proving this by my own lifestyle, is that living a sustainable life is fully possible now and for much less than a conventional, more destructive way of living.
If we hope to see civilization as we know it survive, we need to become serious about LOCAL food production NOW. If the gas supply was interrupted for even a short amount of time, as I saw it here in the mountains in 2008, food supplies would run low quickly as we depend on constant shipment from remote sources to stock our groceries. Buy and encourage local food. Grow your own garden. Now is the time for urban permaculture. We human beings are fully capable of living a sustainable life NOW, we just have to see the need for it. The need is there. Let's don't wait until an interruption in the supply chain or a solar flare frying the electrical grid shows us, let's start making the transition to a more sane, less oil dependent way of living now.
The oil, coal, tar sands, natural gas and other fossil fuel companies aren't going to tell us the "hard truth" about what's going on and the high toll that their energy takes on the planet and personal health. They aren't going to tell us that this gluttonous, drunken orgy of energy squandering we've been taking part in is going to lead to a hangover that may kill us. It's time to take it upon ourselves to start living a life that isn't at war with our larger body, the Earth. Everything we do that harms it is visited directly back on ourselves because we are not apart from it, not one bit. One day soon we may awake to find that our bed is burning and our house is in flames, some in Colorado would say this is already happening. Let's take action to make our dreams come true before our reality becomes a nightmare.
