My friend’s mother died suddenly. The funeral was like all the other’s I’ve been to, a sad affair. Her brother was there, a sheriff recently back from National Guard tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He embodied the look and feel of a soldier; broad shoulders, crew-cut, spying eyes, terse lips. He and I hadn’t ever spoken much to each other in the past..
“Sorry about your mom,” I said.
“Thanks,” he said. “Hard to believe she spent her life as a heart surgeon and died of a heart attack.”
“It really is. Life is full of irony,” I said
“So what are you up to these days?” he said.
I explained the BioWheels RTS story and that we were determined to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure that leap-frogged fossil fuels and got us all driving on sunshine. I did so with caution, assuming that he’d be skeptical of what is so often dubbed left wing environmental propaganda. But I was wrong.
“I never want to see my sons have to go fight in some foreign country to defend our access to oil,” he said. “That has to change.”
Our conversation dove head first into the national security and economic growth opportunities of solar-fueled transportation. As we talked, our differing political views dissolved, replaced by our shared values of integrity, freedom, and durable community—values that are the cornerstones of the BioWheels RTS vision. His enthusiasm was a welcomed surprise.
“Does this mean your going to give up your F-350?” I said.
“Now way?” he said. “I love that truck”
I did not respond. To me it was obvious: if you see the connection between war and oil, and you express a desire to see it end so your kids don’t have to endure what you have endured, then you’d stop driving a gas guzzling truck around town. I found myself slipping down judgment’s steep slope. Truth is there is a gap between most of our values and actions, including mine. Seldom do any of us embody our highest ideals. In the end we are all our worst hypocrites. More of life’s irony.
“Would you be interested in participating in a community forum about the future of electric vehicles in our region? We’d really value your insights,” I said.
“I’d be glad to. Just tell me when,” he said.
Because in the end, there truly is no Us and no Them, only We the People. We’re all in this together whether we drive an SUV or a Hybrid. We’re all part of the problems and the solutions. The problems are huge—war, global warming, smog, volatile energy markets, peak oil—and they will need to be met with solutions that are equally huge. For our country to transition from an oil-based transportation sector to one running on sunshine, we’re going to have to confront our collective fear of letting go.
What I believe we’ll find once we release our desperate grip on the fossil fuel economy that has simultaneously brought us prosperity and debt, security and uncertainty, abundance and ecological collapse is true freedom. But letting go will take trust in our collective ability to forgive ourselves for our part in the problem, unleash our imagination and ingenuity, and create a bright and inclusive future. Let’s leave Us and Them standing on the side of the road holding empty gas cans.
Together we can do this.
Join the ride. Go to BioWheels RTS.com to learn more.