18 August, 2010

Don't get too big for your britches

So, I have been really happy to learn that Sweden's grid is a very clean one. Most of Sweden's energy is sustainable, and very little is from fossil fuels. We've been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma and watching Food, Inc. In general I've just been thinking more about where my food comes from and trying to be healthy. For example, it's been nice living without a car for two years, although I know we'll offset all the good our public transportation is doing by flying all over the place. When I do get a car, I might try for something like a Nissan Leaf for the all electric option. However, I know that in the US about half of our power comes from coal. So an all electric car is a half-coal car. I'd like to see us move to a more sustainable energy policy... But well, I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, a big plus to life in Sweden is that it just feels cleaner. Heck, coming from D.C. I love how clean the water is.

So then I thought it was ironic to find out, some (probably not most, but some) of our biofuel energy comes from bunnies. Can't be too proud about that. Just saying, the "killing bunnies" position is a hard one to defend. I understand the practical reasoning; D.C. had poisoned pigeons to take care of a pest problem and the pigeons weren't even going to a good use, just being discarded. But this reminds me of what Thich Nhat Hanh says that ideals are like traveling towards the North Star, it's enough to give it a good try. But it's important not to get too big for one's britches.

Nobody's perfect. Just lagom.

3 comments:

  1. Sorry, if as usual, I was a bit obscure. Some of my links... Well, I went a bit link happy. If you go to the North Star link, just search "vegetarian" and you'll see the small bit I was referring to in a much larger text.

    As a compensation, here's one more: perhaps this is what bunny revenge would look like?
    http://www.angryalien.com/aa/killbillbuns.asp

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey you crazy kids, I nominated you for an award. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, a major award! It's an honor to be nominated. Is it Fragilé?

    ReplyDelete