EDITOR’S PAGE
Long before we began publishing the Green Living Journal, we bought a home that happened to be well insulated and heated and cooled with an efficient electric heat pump. It was the year 2000, and little did we know then that we had set the stage for our future personal journey to reduce our environmental impact.
Our 3/4 acre property was nothing more than an empty field with blackberries and a few oaks, cherry, and hawthorn trees on the edges. So, over the next several years, we established our veggie garden, planted five kinds of berries, and kiwis, and added several different species of trees and shrubs. Of course, like most gardeners of the time, we had our stable of gasoline-powered tools, including mowers, weed eaters, rototillers, chainsaws, pruners, and chippers.
Then in 2007, we got wind of the SolWest Festival in John Day and decided that there was an opportunity to learn more about self-reliance, renewable energy, recycling, and waste reduction. So off we went, and it was there that we met the publishers of the Medford edition of the Vermont-based Green Living Journal. We were taken and thus began our publishing adventure and our budding efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Over the ensuing years, as battery technology improved, we slowly converted all of our tools to electric. Then last September, our diesel-powered VW was totaled in a rear-end accident. So, the time had come to replace one more fossil fuel burning machine with an electric vehicle. We chose a used Chevrolet Bolt purchased from Platt Auto because it had a 200+ mile range, fit our budget, had low miles and was still under warranty.
The point of my story is to call attention to a fact that has been mostly ignored in the climate crisis that humankind now finds itself facing. According to an analysis by Saul Griffith’s non-profit think tank, Rewiring America, about 40% of all the greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted by our American lifestyle are generated by our homes and the vehicles we drive. So yes, you and I are responsible for nearly half of all the GHGs produced in the United States. But more importantly, each one of us can take action by replacing any appliance or machine that burns fossil fuels to heat and cool our home, heat our water, cook our food, dry our clothes or move us from place to place. By so doing over a reasonable length of time, each one of us can have an impact.
In fact, according to Rewiring America, averting the climate crisis is impossible unless each one of us shoulders our share of the solution. Yes, it will cost money, but in the long run, you will save the upfront costs and then some. Plus, your home and your community will be a healthier place to live. And that’s priceless. So, take the pledge: Electrify Everything.
Fossil fuels? Not in my backyard!
-Gary Munkhoff
