I Love Energy
by Ted Slater on 07/31/2008 at 9:54 AM
I ♥ energy.
When I drive to church, it's energy that gets me there.
When I'm stopped at the train tracks, it's energy that keeps the locomotive rattling along.
When I pick up some organic milk at Whole Foods, it's energy that keeps it cold.
When my kids rummage through the used toys at the thrift store, it's energy that keeps the place at a comfortable temperature.
When I cook up some stir-fry at home, it's energy that makes my stove hot.
When I take a sip from the drinking fountain, it's energy that purified the water.
When I walk to pick up the mail, it's energy that helped manufacture my shoes.
When I mow my lawn, it's energy that keeps the blades of my electric mower spinning.
When I fertilize my lawn with corn gluten meal and chicken manure, it's energy that enabled it to be processed and bagged.
When I go to the local farmer's market, it's energy that fueled the tractors that prepared the earth from which the squash and carrots emerged.
And as I type this blog post, it's energy that keeps the pixels on my monitor bright.
I love energy. I'd prefer we take a cue from France and get more of it from cleaner sources such as nuclear, but I'm fine with it coming from oil, gasoline and coal. I marvel that the Creator would make a world with such a variety of energy sources, giving us the ingenuity to extract this energy to assist us in exercising godly dominion over creation.
I thank God for the blessings of energy.
1. Christina (in green) said the following at 10:05 AM on Jul 31:
I love energy - its what keeps little kids going and going and going and going and going and going and...
Well...you get the picture ;)
I wonder how it would work for waist lines AND environment if we simply learned how to make usable energy from sugar...
2. Mike said the following at 10:48 AM on Jul 31:
My mother used to say if you could figure out a way to bottle the energy kids give off and sell it, you'd make a mint... :-)
3. Texas Craig (formerly just said the following at 11:50 AM on Jul 31:
Energy, like clean water, are great things!!!
I agree that it would be nice if we could get more of our energy from cleaner sources. But, more concerning to me is whether countries like China will try to get more of it from clean sources. China is polluting its air and water terribly.
And, while I do not elevate environmental issues to the level of spiritual issues (except in the most egregious areas), they still impact the health and safety of so many people. And, God tells us to care for the health of ourselves and others, so I have to value methods that limit pollution.
So, here's to clean energy and clean water! Hear, hear! :-)
4. Tigger said the following at 12:17 PM on Jul 31:
Some time ago, while still a young pup at university, I read a fictional series set in the future about a young prince. One comment in there really struck me. In a ruined city, near what must be the temple, though it had the word Bank above the entrance (well, there were so many similar ones in each city!), the young prince was wondering what happened to all the people who used to live there (in what used to be the continent of N. America).
And his mentor remarked that after the great war, and all the cataclysms, just simply living got hard. Really hard. People didn't survive because they didn't know how to do anything for themselves anymore. Cook. Grow food. Make fire. Build houses. Clean their clothes. Make clothes. And it just about wiped us out.
So energy's nice, and I'm all for cleaner sources of it. And I know that China pollutes their God-given place on earth quite terribly, but let's not forget that the US has yet to sign the Kyoto Protocol. And frankly, I don't really understand why, except that I know my people, and my people like things just the way they are...
I also read a cute little article on MSN or somesuch about how where you live affects your waistline. Basically (though this is common sense, so why I need a journalist to tell me, I don't understand) if you live in an area where you can walk, you do. And you save on gas money. But but most people live in places where it's simply a physical impossibility to go to the store by one's own locomotion. And that is plain and simple SAD.
'Twas a very nice post, Ted. Nice to see some positive, and nice to see some perspective. Keep 'em coming!
5. Ted Slater said the following at 12:37 PM on Jul 31:
Tigger -- ah, the Kyoto Protocol.
Did you know that the United States, which hasn't signed it, has done better meeting its goals than European countries, which have?
Over the past decade, the CO2 emissions of the 15 European countries that signed it have increased at a rate three times faster than America's. From 2000 to 2004, for example, U.S. CO2 emissions from "fossil fuel" combustion grew by 1.7 percent; it grew by 5 percent in the EU.
FWIW, China and India, though they've ratified Kyoto, are not required to adhere to it.
The solution to a healthy environment may very well lie with the free market, rather than with international mandates.
6. Jethro said the following at 2:56 PM on Jul 31:
Ted,
Well then the US might as well sign Kyoto ASAP!
On a side note, perhaps you should consider starting a separate 'Conservative Christian Energy Blog' or something of the sort?
7. Lue-Yee said the following at 8:16 PM on Jul 31:
»have increased at a rate three times faster than America’s«
Not quite. I’d say, to be accurate, that their emissions have increased almost three times as fast as America’s, not three times faster.
Thus spake the physicist’s child, anyway.
8. Dan said the following at 8:32 PM on Jul 31:
It is truly remarkable all the energy sources available to us. And just think, all that coal, and oil, and natural gas are directly the result a single catastrophic event which buried millions upon millions of animals and plants all at once -the flood.
Christina commented that it would be great if we could learn how to make usable energy from sugar -we can. In Brazil they have been producing ethanol from sugarcane for years. Unfortunately, ethanol is not as efficient an energy source as gasoline.
9. Lady Akofa said the following at 3:58 AM on Aug 1:
Energy? Ted, we'are the same shoes!
The blessings of energy makes life worth living!
10. Tigger said the following at 8:33 AM on Aug 1:
Yes, I forgot. Everything is better in the US. That happens to me. I leave for a while and I forgot how things are - and always will be.
I appreciate not having blogs on romance, relationships, looks, marriage, and all its ilk again, but one things I've learned (and apparently forgotten here in Boundless) is that it is never wise to discuss politics with church-goers and church with polticos.
Ted, can you tell me where you got those figures? And explain to me that while I'm here in on this side of the pond, I know exactly where to recycle my glass, plastic, paper, etc, and in fact can stand on my balcony and point to the bins, while in the US I couldn't even tell you if we have a recycling program in any place I've ever lived in?
11. Ted Slater said the following at 10:28 AM on Aug 1:
Tigger, no need for the sarcasm. I was simply providing facts in order to dismiss the cliche that America is carelessly destroying the environment by refusing to sign Kyoto, and that those countries that have signed it are somehow more considerate of the environment.
We do care about our planet and its resources; we don't care to subjugate ourselves to some international body.
I appreciate your wanting to know the facts. I got some of my figures from this page; the raw data is available on this page.
Not sure why you think politics is off-limits for Christians, Tigger. I think discussing our environment, and those whom we've elected to head up its stewardship, is fine for everyone, including Christians.
Finally, regarding recycling -- think of all the CO2 emissions we're not generating in the States by not having as many trucks driving the streets picking up recycled materials and large factories processing those materials. ;-)
12. Richard said the following at 3:20 PM on Aug 1:
How can one "love" energy ? What the poster is really saying is that they are in love with the things of this world, the material things, which Jesus warned us about.
Our love should only be directed
into 2 places:
1. Loving God - WIth our entire heart, mind, soul, and strength.
2. Loving Other People, in the same way Christ loved us.
Things are to be used. People are to be loved. Energy is NOT to be loved.
13. Christina (in green) said the following at 2:04 PM on Aug 4:
Richard (#12),
Love God and people with all my energy =p
14. obewan said the following at 8:39 AM on Aug 6:
I love energy too because it is what feeds the world. A lot of people do not realize that most of our modern fertilizers come from petroleum. We would not have the huge crop yields we currently do without oil. When it is gone, the grain output to the world will be a fraction of what it currently is. That is why I am so big on conservation issues.