Everyone loves oil.  Its true.  We love our fast cars, our SUVs and our plastic products.  Oil has become the center of our constricted, collective reality, it has become an addiction; a widespread, society-wide addiction.  The first step in beating any addiction is first admitting that you have a problem, and we do have a serious problem. We have a serious problem is so many ways that we’ve only just begun to understand them.

So much of our world economy relies on the production, refinement and consumption of oil.  The other enormously addictive aspect of oil is the sheer amount of wealth associated with this particular industry.  These oil companies are multi-billion dollor companies, making hand-over-fist amounts of money to stuff their already overflowing coffers.  And of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with the quest for wealth, there is something wrong with if this quest endangers our existence.  While there is much debate over the state of our environment and how it is affected by the emissions produced from fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, there is a much great underlying issue; we will run out of oil in the foreseeable future!

Many have tried to overlook the simple fact that he oil reserves are not renewable.  Though the disconnected masses [those who are not fully jacked-in to the power of information available on the net] are blissfully misled by the gas, Nascar and SUV commercials, we must begin to educate ourselves on these facts, and start to overcome this imposed addiction.  The fact remains that we do not need to be as addicted to oil as we’ve been.  We have the ability to start mass producing products which use alternative energy sources, such as the power of that great big battery in the sky, that won’t run out of energy for another 4 billion years, which is a pretty long time.

The gas prices will continue to rise, the days of 2 dollars a gallon are long gone now.  We and our global neighbors have pushed oil production, depending on those who hate us to feed our addition.  We cannot continue this madness, and it must begin with each and every person.  Again, we cannot blame the producers for this addiction, because companies only continue to make the things we ask for.  Supply and demand is the most explanation for all of this.  If we stop demanding, they’ll be forced to stop supplying. 

Now, I am not advocating that you take your Lexus SUV and drive it off a cliff, nor am I saying to run out and buy a bicycle.  Conserving energy and oil not only helps us overcome the addition, but it also can save you lots of cash.  Here are a few ideas on how to help the planet break that addition:

1. Conserve Electricity:  We still rely heavily on fossil fuel energy to light our households.  It only takes a moment to turn off a light when you’re not using it.  Or making sure you’re not raising penguins in your living room during the summer.
2. Vehicle Maintenance:  Make sure your car has had an oil change and a tune-up on a regular basis.  Another overlooked aspect to gas mileage is to keep your tires inflated to the proper levels.
3. Travel Smart:  You shouldn’t have to stay home to be energy efficient, but you should plan in advance.  From a time and energy conservation perspective, you should want to plan your trips, both daily errands and vacation.  Try to pick routes that let you conserve mileage and time.
4. Car Pool:  I know its a hassle, but you should really try to find people who keep the same work schedule as you.  Not only does it cut down on the energy, but isn’t it nice to have someone to talk to on the ride in and the ride home from work?
5. Home Improvement:  Isn’t it time you look into replacing those old, gaping windows?  Is your roof in disrepair?  Are you heating and cooling every room in your house whether you use it or not?  With the housing market so poor, not only can you save yourself some money in energy costs, but every improvement you do to your home is an investment in its worth.
6. Vote: We should never elect officials with a conflict on interest with respect to the greater good.  Regardless of the fact that George Bush has been a mediocre president, we should not have elected someone who clearly has opinions on the production of oil.  Were we really thinking we would have seen that we're primarily in war over oil.  We were misled, there is no denying it.  Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me.
7. Entrepreneurial Ventures:  Got a good idea for new type of fuel?  Figured out how to make cold fusion work?  Have you been calculated the equation to allow superconductivity to occur at room temperature?  The Federal government gives away millions of dollars each year to research ventures.  Why not put that money to good use, rather than allow it to be waste on new types of weapons?

These are a few things to get you started.  Don't look at it as anything other than just being smart with your own money and your own life.  Too many people get hung up on the "you can't tell me what to do" mentality.  No, we shouldn't need more laws to govern our oil consumption, although California is going a great job with this.  We should be able to govern ourselves because it makes sense, not because we're being told to do it.