12 Steps of Energy Sobriety

1. We admitted we were powerless over fossil fuels, and that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a lasting and cleaner source of power could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over the laws of the biosphere and the principles of conservation.

4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our energy abuse.

5. Admitted to ourselves, our leaders, and the world at large, the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to remove from our body politic all that oppose the wise use of resources.

7. Humbly set out to reverse our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all peoples and species we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such beings whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to inventory our resource use and abuse, and when we erred promptly corrected it.

11. Sought through monitoring and research to improve our conscious choices, seeking only to meet the sanest need with the least harm possible.

12. Having had a responsible awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message throughout the land, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Note: I was inspired to write these, based on the 12 steps of AA, after following a discussion on Huffington Post. Although I began it  half in jest, it occurs to me that if we actually followed these steps, we would solve our energy problems - and a lot of others, besides! Feel free to copy & spread the word.

Thanks,
Jan B