Being energy wise is becoming more and more a part of our culture recently. 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.  Unfortunately it does not get great gas mileage so I have trimmed the number of trips I make to the office as much as I can. That has helped my fuel budget.  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.  Energy talk on the news and in magazines slowly does have some influence on how we think and act.

Talk about a waste of energy—the fuel spent on airplanes, helicopters and trucks in fighting wildfires in California is insane.  Also, think about all the gasoline used by folks vacating their threatened homes.  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.