I had a great night last night with my brothers – Glen and Lyle after the kids were in bed. Most of the talk focused on energy and saving the world. Glen has a 1.8 megawatt wind turbine as his business. Lyle has a biodeisel refinery. Both of them give a number of speeches on conservation, energy, living conservatively etc. Lyle’s blog (energy blog) has a huge readership. He is also publishing a book on the trials of getting a biodeisel refinery going. Both Lyle and Glen are tied up with tons of government bureaucracy. Both of them are trying to save the world.
All of the Estill brothers have a bit of this save the world and energy conservation in us. My oldest brother Mark drives a Honda Civic hybrid, I drive a Toyota Prius hybrid. Glen drives a Honda Insight hybrid and Lyle drives a VW Jetta which runs on biodeisel (of course).
On Glen’s refridgerator he has a quote from Helen Keller “I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do” Of course Glen uses this to inspire him on the quest to save the world. I can use it to inspire me in the larger company. Sometimes I feel my contribution is small with little impact. It is these little impacts that ultimately move companies and society and the world.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThough I applaud you for wanting to do something, rather than nothing, for making our world a better place. Your thoughts on hybrid cars, wind turbines, biofuels...are slightly flawed. You express yourself with the quote from Helen Keller as if to convey the thought that if more of us would see and react to the world as you see it, we would all have a bigger impact on changing the world. But the impact of the IC engine and coal burning plants is not there exhaust, its the simple fact there are so many of them creating exhaust. A couple dozen or hundred gas engines did little harm to the environment, in fact they were partly considered a better alternative to all of the hoarse manure. Just as a few hybrid vehicles and wind turbines are looked at as improvements to the IC engine, until we all have 2 or 3 of them erected in our back yard and parked in our garages. And batteries and energy storage devices begin to fill up our landfills or we are stuck with another toxic disposal product and we have no idea of how to dispose of it.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog while looking up Profit Beyond Measure. I couldn't help reading your thoughts on you and your brothers efforts in "saving" the world. It was your quote of Helen Keller that stuck out to me the most. You employ it in such a manner as to express that you wish others would do as you do. Though I applaud you for your desire to somehow improve the world around you, I have to say that the way in which you suggest it carries some great flaws. The trouble with the IC engine is not its exhaust. Its the simple fact that so many of them exist. A few dozen or even hundred gas vehicles contributed little to pollution when they were introduced to the world. In fact some saw them as a great improvement from the piles of hoarse manure. Thus, if we were all to follow in your humble efforts to add our little piece to the puzzle, and went out and purchased hybrids as well to the point where we had 2 or 3 of them in our garages, and equally followed your brother's efforts and erected windturbines in our backyards...would the amplified impact of such an action truly bring harmony to our environment, or would it be another improvement over hoarse manure?