Caption:1900: A 'garden-seat' horse-drawn bus in London. (Photo by F J Mortimer/Getty Images)
Caption:1900: A 'garden-seat' horse-drawn bus in London. (Photo by F J Mortimer/Getty Images)
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You can’t turn on a media device for very long and not hear the words “climate change.” All the talking heads project the gloom and doom if something isn’t done right away. We’ve gone to unleaded gas, curly light bulbs, and energy efficient appliances yet we are still on a downward slide to the end of civilization, as we know it.

What Is This Climate Deal Anyway?

Is the world getting warmer? Cooler? Staying about the same? Thousands of scientists getting grants to prove we have a problem are proving we have a problem. At least to themselves. But lets assume for the moment they are correct, that the climate is changing and mankind is the cause. Where do we go from here?

History Is A Superb Teacher

When we look at history and the building of our great nation we seem to forget one very important word — evolution. No, I’m not talking about Darwin and the evolution of plants and animals I’m talking about the evolution of advancements.

Because of our system of freedoms it’s no accident that America was blessed with some of the greatest inventive minds in the history of the planet. Edison, Bell and the Wright Brothers changed the entire world forever. But they didn’t do it overnight.

The Evolution of Advancements

Alexander Graham Bell filed for a patent on the telephone on February 14, 1876 but no one went out and got a phone. It would be another ten years before 150,000 people in America had a phone.

Why ten years? Because Bell had to refine the original phone to make it practical for commercial use. In other words it had to evolve. Bell didn’t move to texting as soon as the phone became popular. How long did it take for the cell phone to replace the CB Radio? CD’s to replace the eight track.

We knew about jet engine technology during World War II yet we had no jet planes. We knew about computer technology in the 1940’s yet widespread computer use took 30 more years for common use.

The horse and automobile coexisted on farms and highways for 50 years. I may be wrong but I don’t think we could have speeded up the evolution of the automobile by shooting all the horses.

Fossil Fuels and Shooting Horses

Trying to force the natural evolution of alternative energy by deaminizing or attempting to eliminate current energy sources is just like shooting the horses to advance the automobile. Alternative energies will come just like advancements in flight, telephone, computers and big screen TV’s.

But, there is a time frame for other technologies to come together in order for products to improve and evolve. Computers were room sized until the transistor arrived and got even smaller with the microchip.

Why didn’t Bell just buy some microchips when inventing his phone and save us 100 years till we could text while driving?

Some Final Thoughts

Whether you believe in climate change or not, is not the issue. The issue is getting the entire world to buy into making lifestyle changes. Some changes can be forced upon us by government, like the prohibition of incandescent light bulb manufacturing. It’s almost impossible to buy anything other than a low flow showerhead, toilet, or an energy efficient appliance.

But turning down your thermostat or air conditioning, or buying a hybrid vehicle is a personal decision. I can remember President Carter telling us to turn down our thermostats during the oil embargo of the 1970s. We did, for about a week.

My advice, sit back, relax, fossil fuels will be a thing of the past when their time is up.

Until then, be happy you still have a horse.

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