As I've written about before, a number of years ago I went through a period that I called, "My Blue Funk".  While I won't bore you with the details here again, I will tell you that as a result of what I went through during this period of time, I learned one of the most important lessons that I've ever learned.  That is;

"Nobody changes unless there is enough pain to make them want to change".

If you think about it, it makes all of the sense in the world.  If things are rocking for you, then why risk upsetting the apple cart?  Unfortunately, a person, an economy or even a society can find themselves in the position of suffering, but not suffering enough to do something about their situation.

This is where I think that we're at as a society right now.  Specifically in terms of our energy needs.

For the past 150 years or so carbon based fuels have been plentiful and cheap.  While they may have been dirty, this was a cost that we were able to shuffle off on everybody else and didn't have to pay for ourselves, so we didn't ever factor this cost into our equations.

In 1973 the Organization of Oil Exporting States (OPEC) organized an oil embargo that should have served as an eye opener for us here in the US.  In no uncertain terms were we shown that our way of life was in danger by powers that laid outside of our control and for a short period of time, we reacted.

People started to conserve energy, laws were written that encouraged research into "alternative energy" sources and people even started to drive smaller automobiles.  But then things changed.  OPEC wasn't able to maintain it's discipline and the embargo fell apart.

Gas prices fell and before long we went right back to the way that we were before.  Not only did we go back to the way that we were before the "Energy Crises" we got worse.  All you have to do is to look at the number of SUVs that people were driving to see that it's true.

Well now we're starting to feel the pain again.  Gas prices are higher now than they've ever been before and to complicate matters further, our burning of fossil fuels has led to the warming of our planet.  A warming that has the potential to not only lesson our standard of living, but to, in the worst case scenario, to endanger our survival as a species.

In other words, we're starting to experience enough pain to make us want to change!

And I've got news for a lot of you.....change isn't always a bad thing! 

While it does tend to be painful, most times I think that you'll find that when you make a change under circumstances that have caused us pain, the end result is that we are better off for having made the change.  I found this to be true when I went through my "Blue Funk" and I think that we'll find this to be true when we end up moving away from carbon based fuels.

If for no other reason than the facts that our environment will be cleaner and that we will have lessoned the stranglehold that big oil currently has on us!

That's right.  Not only will we not be polluting our planet by pumping tons and tons of Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we will be taking back our own energy independence.  This is because most of the various alternatives to carbon based fuels are going to be difficult, if not impossible, to monopolize as the oil companies have done with carbon based fuels.

They might be able to sell us the solar panels to collect the sun's rays, but they'll never be able to put a meter on what we take from the sun. 

It's the same with hydrogen.  Big Business (if they are smart about it) will be able to sell us the technology to
produce and store our own hydrogen.  They might even be able to continue selling us the electricity that is required to produce the hydrogen, but short of making it illegal (which they might do with some trumped up safety concerns) they won't be able to keep us from making our own hydrogen to power our homes and vehicles.

So, while you're experiencing pain right now leading up to the change and will likely continue to experience pain while we do end up switching, in the long run, it's going to be a positive change to make.

Accepting the need to change is the first step towards achieving the benefits of change.  Accepting the need for change is also the best thing that we can do in order to lesson the amount of pain that we need to experience in order to make the change possible. 

If you look at our current situation as a society, those of us who are ready to embrace the need to change have a responsibility to help those of us who are in denial.  Those of us who are in denial such as the major oil companies and the politicians that they control.

We have to be ready and able to challenge the paid spokesmen for these entities when they attempt to forestall the enviable by saying things like, "Hydrogen is impractical as a fuel for our vehicles" or "Alternative energies aren't going to be ready anytime in the foreseeable future".

Recognize these ploys for what they are;  attempts by people with vested interests in the status quo to stop or at least forestall the demise of their favored positions in our society.

These sorts of statements are not based in fact.  The facts of the matter are that while there are hurdles to over-come in the implementation of the technologies on a mass scale, the science is already there in regards to these "alternative" energies being practical and useful today.

Why post this article on a "real estate" blog?

Well, for one reason, if you're involved in the real estate industry you've already shown a certain level of independence.  This independence makes us leaders in our communities and if we embrace the change, then others will too!

The other reason that I posted this here is because the lessons that hold true for us in regards to energy policy also are valid in terms of our real estate businesses in these times of turmoil.  Or as an unknown author once wrote:

"Pain is inevitable, suffering however is optional"  (Author unknown)

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is president of ValueList Real Estate Services,  St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company.  If you would like to find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program, please feel free to visit our web site at valuelistre.com