Tell Me Again Why I Give A Damn.

This morning in London, the price of a barrel of oil hit an all-time high of just over $135. There has been a lot of talk in the past year about Peak Oil, which is the theory that the world's oil supply is limited and therefore we will reach a point where production declines, never to return. It seems more obvious to me now than ever before that we (all of us) should be doing what we can to preserve Earth's resources.

I drive a really small car that gets great mileage (A Scion xA, 30 city, 37 highway.) I don't drive much and have only filled the 11 gallon tank twice since Thanksgiving. (And still have almost 1/2 a tank.) I take the train to work, and walk to/from the train. I only run the air when it's really hot, and the heat when it's really cold. I use compact fluorescent light bulbs and turn off lights when I'm leaving a room. I shut off the water when I brush my teeth. I reuse containers, including plastic bags, and recycle everything I can. All of the toilet paper / tissues / paper towels I buy are made from recycled paper. I am vegetarian.

And yet, when I go outside, I see disturbing things. There's one over-compensating guy who drops his wife off at the train in their Hummer H2. The town I live in waters the grass bordering the municipal parking lots. Garbage cans on the train overflow with newspaper and plastic bottles. The expressway is jammed with people driving to work...

And I wonder, am I obligated to give a damn about this planet? Are any of us?

If car companies are allowed to produce ridiculously oversized and inefficient vehicles; car dealers are allowed to sell them; and consumers are allowed to buy and drive them, then why should I try to use less gas? Other than my own selfish gain (of spending less $ on gas,) what good does it do? Why should I reuse my paper grocery bags when other people dump millions of plastic bags a year into landfills and the ocean?

Who am I trying to help? I don't have kids, and probably won't (we can all be thankful for that, right?). So why should I care if the planet is rendered uninhabitable? What skin is it off my back if the population runs out of fresh water in 40 or 50 years? Why should I care if the price of oil keep going up and up until Americans have to pay $10 for a gallon of gas? Why should I take measures to reduce my footprint when so many people aren't doing shit? Why should I be sacrificing so some person I've never met can use that extra gas to fill the tank on their Mustang, or use that electricity to light their incandescent bulbs, or use that oil to make more plastic bags to choke our landfills?

So you tell me. Why should I not buy a Ford F-150? Why should I not leave the water running and the lights on? Why should I not throw out my recycle bins and get a bigger trash can? Why should I not burn through as much of the Earth's resources as I can in my short time on this planet? Seems like that what everyone else is doing.

(For some reason, I felt like ranting today.)
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