It is not the “harm “in getting off of fossil fuels, it is the logistics, the costs, and the threat to our fossil fueled economy that right now makes such a move almost impossible. Everything and I mean everything you do has fossil fuels/petroleum based production/ materials attached to it … From the shower you take, to the food you eat, to the lifesaving medicine that people take. Every one of us is using petroleum based product to type on this forum. When you go home and binge watch endless tv shows there is fossil fuels behind all of it. Without petroleum we would not be able to produce the amount of food we produce, and yes, for you vegetarians or vegan types that want to see this food consumed in mass quantities, that means you too. Do a search on the simple activity of performing a Google search and how much energy that seemingly innocuous activity is. You will be surprised.
We are addicted to fossil fuels, and this addiction will be hard to quit. Sweet crude is where it is at, and once we go over the peak oil crest and start rolling down the slippery slope to where the oil is tougher and tougher to extract not much will be there to save us. Tar sands will not save us, clean coal will not save us, hydro power and natural gas will not save us, and solar and wind will not save us. All of the ‘efficient”, cleaner ways of producing energy still require some type of fossil fuel to actually produce the machinery and products. What do people think solar panels are made of? We are only prolonging the inevitable demise of our way of living. Technology won’t save us. The planet is finite, and we only have one shot here.
Many people are just plain irresponsible and don’t give a sh*t about what goes on beyond their inner circle. As long as Karen can leave her 3,500 sf house, drive herself to Starbucks, then to work in her 8 seat SUV, leave work, pick up her sons Brad, and Chad Jr. at soccer practice, come home and have her Hello Fresh, prepackaged meal heated up for her kids and her husband Chad Sr …Then go into the living room and watch America’s Got Talent on the 80” tv, without any guilt or fear of consequences then this routine will continue until her and millions of others are forced to change their ways. By then it may be too late. Freedom has a price. We know the price, but would rather put off paying it until later, or hope that the fee goes away, and we won’t have to pay.
On the one end of the spectrum we may eventually see a huge die off of people, with the rest of us living in a scaled back environment, almost pre-industrial age, with the possibility of the rich (in gold, and silver) hanging on a bit longer to their throw caution to wind life of extravagance (at the expense of the less fortunate). On the other end massive war, natural disaster may put an end to most of us anyway.
But, I think all of this comes much later rather than sooner, so anything we can do to slow down the fall of man will help. This will include some of the more energy conscious ways of production, still using fossil fuels, but in conjunction with solar, and wind, etc.
Enjoy the rest of your day!