Everybody Wants Black Gold

, Do any of you remember the theme song to the old TV show \"The Beverly Hillbillies\"? That\'s the first time I recall hearing the phrase \"black gold\".

It seems like we\'re all addicted to \"black gold\" these days. I\'ve written a song with the title \"Black Gold\" and I\'m trying to tackle the subject Supra Vaider Black Gold of our addiction to oil.

I\'ve read that it\'s very difficult to get someone to understand something, when their job depends on their not understanding.

That seems to be where Supra Vaider Black Gold we are on the subject of climate change or global warming, or whatever you want to call it.

For the majority of us struggling to grind out an existence and earn our daily bread while keeping a roof over our head, it can sometimes seem like a subject best left to the experts, thereby relieving ourselves of any responsibility to contemplate what\'s happening.

Most of the world\'s economy is built on the use of fossil fuels, and who wants to \"cut their own throat\" so to speak, by supporting actions that may impact our individual ability to earn a living.

But, there\'s a problem with that line of thinking. As far as I know, we only have this one planet that we all inhabit. If the Eco systems are damaged to a point to where they no longer support life as we\'ve come to know it, I don\'t think there\'s a giant transport ship waiting to take us somewhere else. (Not that those of us in the 99% would have much chance of booking passage even if there were some way off \"this rock\". Although, I suppose the 1% might want to take along a few of us to serve them...)

If you\'re only 10 years old, maybe all the \"extreme\" weather we\'ve been experiencing for the past several years seems normal to you. If you\'ve been around a while longer, I think you can recognize that it\'s not at all normal. I\'m not someone that enjoys winter, and while I do enjoy unseasonably warm days...I know that there\'s something wrong when I get a 60 degree January day in Wisconsin.

There\'s been a fair amount of talk about \"green\" energy and \"green\" products. This has all appeared to be more of a marketing campaign than real efforts to fundamentally change how we operate.

I\'ve always believed there won\'t be a fundamental change until the current titans of the energy industry decide that they have complete control over production and distribution of whatever green or renewable energy that could replace our fossil fuels. In the meantime, it\'s in their best interests to keep everything as it is now.

Except, keeping things as they are now, appears to be marching us toward a tipping point where there is no recovery. Indeed some believe we\'ve already reached it.

Now, I would love to tell you that I\'m a totally green guy with a small carbon footprint. But that wouldn\'t be true. I\'m part of the problem. I do make individual efforts to lessen my footprint.

And everyone should do what they can. But until renewable energy is widely available, individual efforts will likely produce very limited results - as is the status Supra Vaider Black Gold quo.

It easy to feel powerless when thinking about this subject. And I\'m certainly not anywhere close to being highly knowledgeable on this subject, nor do I have all the right answers.

But similar to the financial crisis of 2008 - where one did not need to be an expert on Credit Default Swaps and Collateralized Debt Obligations to instinctively know that something was going wrong. You knew it was unfair to provide trillions in bailouts to banks while millions of ordinary people were left to suffer. If you\'ve been alive long enough, you should have something nagging at the back of your skull to give you the sense that there\'s something up with our changing climate.

For a much more informed take on the subject of climate change, you can check out Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org at http://www.350.org. He is also a regular at http://www.tomdispatch.com, so check out his latest there also.

I\'m a singer songwriter exploring the human condition through song. I enjoy love songs, and party songs as much as the next person, but I also think that there should be songs about poverty, justice, the environment, politics, all the things that impact our lives. So in addition to writing about these things in songs, I also try to encourage conversation with my opinion on things that are happening. You might agree, you might disagree, but it\'s important to open space for dialogue.