Are Wildfire Safety and Everyday Energy Awareness Related Concerns?
If there’s anything we’ve learned in recent months, it is that we should be energy smart whenever possible. Conserving energy in our homes and driving is very worthwhile. Crude oil prices could go back to their peak in no time if demand exceeds supply.
My vehicle is a large Yukon, which is great for hauling things. Mileage is not so good, but I’ve cut back to making three trips to the office weekly whenever possible. The fuel budget has been helped by that strategy. If it weren’t for the load-carrying capacity I would look for a more fuel-efficient, smaller automobile.
We have tried to cut back on energy usage at home by installing extra insulation and double-pane windows. When we hear so much energy talk on the news, it does have the effect of getting us to at least think about ways to cut back on energy usage.
Imagine the wasteful expenditure of energy in fighting a wildfire, with Diesel for fuel-guzzling choppers, planes and trucks. Even the evacuation of thousands of families is an unfortunate waste of gasoline. I found some discussion about wildfire prevention and other fire safety issues at the Minutemanfire site. Even when fire buffers had been created, homes with tile roofs have been destroyed in fires, surprisingly.
There’s a lot of wasted energy in the work involved in rebuilding homes demolished by wildfires. We may not think about it much, but in fact there is a connection between fire prevention and conserving energy.