Reading On The Toilet

My last post dealt with the need for alternative sources of energy, to save money, decrease pollution, and help slow climate change.  A cautionary post should be added, as the race to develop and utilize alternative energy is not all good.  I took the above picture on a trip to Borneo in 2008, riding in an Iban long boat on a multi day trip deep into the jungle.  Here’s a picture of what much of Borneo is becoming due to the demand for alternative energy:

After spending time in the jungle, seeing the incredibly diverse flora and fauna and the lifestyles of the few tribes still able to live there, it was depressing to see how much of Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo was being deforested to make room for palm oil plantations.  These plantations are wiping out jungle around the world at an unbelievable rate, to satisfy the demand for alternative energy.

The fact is, palm oil and ethanol are worse for the environment when you consider the cost in energy, water, land, and fertilizer to grow the crops necessary for production.  AND, they’re destroying enormous amounts of jungle, driving plants and animals into extinction and producing more CO2 as the jungle is cleared and burned.

While developing GOOD alternative sources of energy is necessary, it needs to be done in a smart manner.  An alternative to oil is no good if it does worse than oil.  While this should be obvious, it’s not being practiced now.   For further reading, here are two great articles from Foreign Policy:

Seven Myths About Alternative Energy

Is a Green World a Safer World?

In our quest to decrease pollution, save money, prevent deaths due to limited resources, and slow climate change, we need to think smart.  Renewable resources like wind and solar are great, but they’ll no doubt have their own problems.  Clearly, the best option for everyone is to reduce consumption.  What’s the point of moving away from oil only to destroy life even faster!?!?