Energy
For All Global Citizens
Our
consumption of 'stuff' costs the planet.
'Stuff' has to be grown, harvested,
manufactured, assembled, freighted,
whatever.
It costs energy, at the very
least.
And, to the extent that powerful
individuals and organisations exploit
disadvantaged individuals and less powerful
countries, my consumption can cost a
stranger his happiness, his livelihood,
or even his life.
by Harvey TORDOFF
Whether we know it or not, we are all global citizens, but the
wonder of nature is such that the phrase
will mean something different to each
and everyone of us.
I can't say what it will mean for
you, but this is my story.
At heart I am a theosophist.
If you want to know what that means
there are lots of musty old books and
a few modern ones.
Put simply, it means that I believe
in harmony and unity: between individuals;
between communities; between humankind
and nature; and between humankind and
God, or the universe.
That's quite a claim, but a lot of people
can make grand statements about their
beliefs which are not reflected in their
lifestyles. How do I back it up? There's nothing new in theosophy, it's
as old as the hills (well, older, actually):
respect, compassion, love; all the elements
of the great religions, and one that isn't
preached so much: responsibility.
You can't lay the blame on fate
or divine intervention. It's karma, not kop-out. Each human being is responsible for his
or her actions, and to practice respect,
love and compassion you need to be aware
of the likely consequences of everything
you do. If you want to avoid the road to Hell,
add awareness to your good intentions.
On a mundane level, that means being kind and considerate in all
your daily exchanges, being constructive
and supportive, not destructive or hurtful.
Does it mean turning the other
cheek?
Not necessarily. Sometimes you need to defend yourself,
to stand up for what you believe.
It's a question of whether condoning
or rejecting inappropriate behaviour will
lead to more or less harmony.
Just be aware of the consequences.
This is where I get to the boring bit. We all want to be kind to a stray dog or a lame duck; it even
makes us feel good.
But awareness when you go shopping?
That seems to be too much to ask
of some people. Still, it's part of theosophy.
Our consumption of 'stuff' costs
the planet.
'Stuff' has to be grown, harvested,
manufactured, assembled, freighted, whatever.
It costs energy, at the very least.
And, to the extent that powerful
individuals and organisations exploit
disadvantaged individuals and less powerful
countries, my consumption can cost a stranger
his happiness, his livelihood, or even
his life.
It doesn't stop there.
I invest for my old age.
I used to go for the investments
that promised the best returns. Not any more. I don't invest in companies that make weapons or cigarettes;
I don't invest in companies with a bad
record on pollution or local employment.
It means I missed out on the boom
in oil stocks, but it has its compensations. In recent years I have been looking at
renewable energy.
The world needs energy.
Over the last 100 years or so it
has come from fossil fuels, which, as
we all know, will run out one day.
Not that we will be around on the
last day; it will be dog-eat-dog long
before we get to the last barrel of oil.
And, of course, burning fossil
fuels releases greenhouse gases and changes
the climate.
And who suffers from climate change?
Oh, it's those disadvantaged people
again.
We saw who suffered when Katrina
hit New Orleans: the people who didn't
have cars to escape, and second homes
offering refuge. There are 100 million people living within
one meter of sea level, and they are all
at risk from climate change. What can you do about it, as a global
citizen?
I buy my electricity on a green
tariff.
And I have solar thermal collectors
on my roof.
And I drive a hybrid car.
And I try to reduce my consumption
of luxury air-freighted food.
But I was talking about investments. A few years ago I invested in a small wind farm community co-operative
in the north of England, and it's paid
a nice return ever since. Not long after I invested, the co-op asked
for volunteer directors from its 1300
members. I am an accountant with a lot of business experience, approaching
a time of life when I don't need to maximise
my earnings potential, so I volunteered.
What I found was an operation that
wasn't quite big enough to be self-sufficient,
so I set about trying to gain some critical
mass. Seems there's quite a demand for this kind of thing.
We set up a separate company to
handle all the enquiries and called it
Energy4All. Now we are working with communities all
over the UK who want to set up their own
little wind farm co-operative. We do all the hard work; they get to own
their own wind turbines.
And to make it really fair, the
co-ops get to own Energy4All as well.
It's not a bad investment.
We sell our electricity on the
open market. As prices rise, so do our profits, which we pay out to the
members, so financial benefits stay in
the community. The co-ops have a loose affiliation with each other, some investors
own shares in more than one co-op, and
we are creating one big happy family.
Most companies go in for a bit
of empire building, but what we are creating
is more of a commonwealth of communities.
And by our actions, in our own
backyards in the UK, we are helping to
combat the effects of climate change,
which in turn helps poor communities throughout
the world. Wow, humankind working in harmony with
nature.
Forget the musty old books, this
is what theosophy is all about. And this is what it's like to be a global citizen.
What are you waiting for?
Start harmonising!
Harvey Tordoff
Rogate, Hampshire, England
author: O Lanoo! ~ The Secret Doctrine
Unveiled
director: Energy4All Limited
www.olanoo.com
www.energy4all.co.uk
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