There’s ample historical evidence that Americans can suck it up when necessary to reach an understandable common objective.
Look no further than rationing during World War II and the Oil Embargo of ’73.
But it’s equally clear sacrifice isn’t our first choice. We much prefer to look to innovation for the quick and painless fix. It’s a driving force, for example, behind the search for the elusive diet pill that can shed the weight without interfering with our lust for sweets.
Now data from Rasmussen Reports shows that while Americans understand the energy situation is a real national crisis, there isn’t much interest in sacrifice as a solution.
The New Jersey-based research organization found that 65 percent of adults surveyed feel that finding new sources of energy is a more important step than reducing consumption. The pollsters have been asking that question for awhile and the late July numbers are the highest since March 2009. Translation: Don’t pull the plug on my air conditioning or big-screen TV, just find more juice someplace that doesn’t raise military or environmental problems.
Similarly, while 37 percent say it’s somewhat likely they’d buy an electric car in the next decade, just 19 percent say they’re likely to do so given pricing that makes the new vehicles at least $15,000 more expensive than comparable fossil fuel vehicles. That number climbs to 30 percent if a $7,500 tax credit is added to the equation, roughly the same number who say it’s not likely they’ll be driving an electric car at any price within the next decade. Translation: I’m interested if somebody else is paying the bill.
All of that doesn’t bode well for the electric-car industry or for the overall push to wean ourselves from fossil fuel.
It dovetails with the experience of the solar industry here in Connecticut, which has been consistent in saying it’s dead without state tax credits that bring its costs to consumers in line with traditional power sources.
Today, the state’s treasury is empty so massive tax credits aren’t happening and the sound of the solar industry exiting is deafening.
Perhaps the feds, who we’re constantly reminded don’t have to balance a budget and run the presses that print the money, will pick up the slack. But even that ray of hope for alternative energy seems to be drowning in the nation’s red ink.
It’s easy to identify the real enemy of progress here. It’s that person in the mirror. What’s harder is finding a solution without that person’s active participation.
Workplace Tragedy
The shooting that took nine lives at a Manchester beer distribution warehouse is a tragedy that defies words. The stories of heroic acts, of self-preservation, of sheer terror are as gripping as they are touching.
We may never understand the true motivations or the events that drove the shooter, described by friends as a nonviolent man, to go on this rampage. When placed under the microscope of media scrutiny, some signs are likely to emerge that might have sounded an alarm if observed in the proper context by a highly skilled observer might have spotted. That’s a lot of qualifiers.
Some likely will argue for new legislation to mandate more workplace security. That was a result of the 1998 shootings at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Newington. But as security experts keep reminding us, it’s hard to stop a person who is willing to die in an attack.
Perhaps the best lesson here is that we all — employers and employees, friends and relatives, co-workers and customers — need to speak up when we see a potentially explosive situation.
It really does take a village to navigate the tricky currents of modern life.
