Feeling Rich

Our power has been out for almost 2 days now. The storm dropped many trees, some over power lines. My feeling has nothing to do with electricity, but our lack of it. Thomas Edison said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." I was burning two oil lamps so I could read. I was also burning wood to keep warm.

This caused me to start thinking about what it costs people to light and heat their houses without electricity (that would be a significant portion of the world's population). I spent $15 on wood that will only produce 6 hours of heat. Lamp oil burns slowly, but burning 2 lamps from 5 PM until 10 PM will probably cost a bottle of oil every 3 days. I have not even considered the cost of fueling food preparation. While I have just considered the financial costs, the environmental costs are even more staggering. Can you imagine the smoke pollution from tens of thousands of cooking fires burning every day. Add to that the deforestation required to resource the daily fires and you are looking at shortages within months.

I am thankful for cheap electricity. Electricity lights our homes and keeps our forests standing. It also makes life very manageable. There is a par of me that enjoys the the lack of electricity, but I think that has more to do with my wealth than any deep moral obligation to turn off my electrical appliances. My cheep electricity gives me the option to choose power or no power. I will be sad when the power supply is returned to my home, but it will be short lived as I can once again cook, wash the big pile of clothes stacking up, and heat the house so I don't have to spend $10 each day to have 4 hours of heat in one room. I hope for cheap electricity the world over because it really is a good thing.