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That's harsh.

I know that's harsh, but how else can you describe the process of ripping resources away from a natural system in order to better our already extravagant lifestyle? Our global human population is consuming far more than its fair share of global resources and we're not replenishing the system.

Mother Nature is responding with natural events. Droughts. Floods. Earthquakes. Melting ice caps. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Extreme weather and physical events are the natural response to altering the natural systems that have evolved over thousands or millions of years.

Last night I heard T. Boone Pickens on the Charlie Rose Show say that several decades ago the US was producing 10 million barrels of oil a day. Now we are producing 5 million barrels of oil a day...because oil supplies just aren't there any more. Hmmm. I guess those decades of oil consumption are in the air...and soil...and water...

He also said that we now import 60% of our oil...up from 25% in the 80s. Hmmm.

The result of this heavy use of oil....you know what it is. But what you might not have thought about is -- what is oil's natural role in the earth's system? Why was it down there in the nooks and crannies of the earth? What role did it play naturally? I must admit that I don't know either. But then, I've never even heard a scientific or business theory expressed. And scientists and business explorers are my "go to" guys for theories and data like that.

It just makes sense that natural oil fields that formed over millions of years have a role in their surroundings. After all, other resources have developed a natural role. Waves have a role. Groundwater has a role. Erosion has a role. Ice caps have a role. Our scientists have explored some of these roles and explain their natural balancing act in the seasons and rotations and evolving landscapes of earth's closed system. But where's the explanation for oil's role in the earth's ecosystem?

We're too busy finding new ways to find and use oil to worry about Mother Earth's need for it where it formed. That's just to esoteric.

Do you know what oil producers fill the empty caverns with when the oil and gas are removed? I've heard it is salt water and a variety of other chemicals and waste. I've heard that earthquakes happened in Colorado after oil and gas were removed from the ground. Hmmm. Have we had more earthquakes and stronger earthquakes lately?

The bottom line is that our addiction is bottoming. This is a time of crisis. A time of war -- but a kind of war that we haven't known before. We've been told that the war on terrorism is a new kind of war. It's just the same old pirating on the high seas kind of thing.

But the environmental war is truly a different kind of war. It is a war being declared and waged by the common citizen in their own homes against their own families. It is waged with the best of intentions to get more resources for their survival...and wealth building.

Hmmm....isn't that the age old excuse for warring against neighbors?

What's different this time is that we haven't mobilized to alter the course of this historical movement. We aren't rationing as a community. We aren't drafting legions of troops to defeat the enemy -- because the enemy is us and the party being invaded is our home planet.

So this isn't so different. We want resources. The earth doesn't want to give them up. So we take what we want. And earth retalliates. What's the solution?

Learn to live in peace, to give and take...and give back to keep the system balanced.

How do we do that?

Reduce our consumption.

Start to enjoy the simple things that the natural system provides for nourishment of life -- clean water, sunsets, growing our own food, nurturing our children and grandchildren, respecting one another and all our natural neighbors -- animals, plants...and even oil.

That sounds too simplistic, and it is. But it's the kind of vision we need to start making a difference. One step at a time. One very important step at a time. A personal one.

Once we have a clear vision, we can then define the problem and find solutions.

Let's find peace together,
Carolyn