If there’s anything we’ve learned in recent months, it is that we should be energy smart whenever possible. Conserving energy in our homes and driving is very worthwhile.  Crude oil prices could go back to their peak in no time if demand exceeds supply.

I drive a large Yukon XL, which is basically a Suburban.  Unfortunately it does not get great gas mileage so I have trimmed the number of trips I make to the office as much as I can. That has helped my fuel budget.  If it weren’t for the load-carrying capacity I would look for a more fuel-efficient, smaller automobile.

We have tried to cut back on energy usage at home by installing extra insulation and double-pane windows.  When we hear so much energy talk on the news, it does have the effect of getting us to at least think about ways to cut back on energy usage.

Imagine the wasteful expenditure of energy in fighting a wildfire, with Diesel for fuel-guzzling choppers, planes and trucks.  Even the evacuation of thousands of families is an unfortunate waste of gasoline.  I found some discussion about wildfire prevention and other fire safety issues at the Minutemanfire site.  Even when fire buffers had been created, homes with tile roofs have been destroyed in fires, surprisingly.

There’s a lot of wasted energy in the work involved in rebuilding homes demolished by wildfires.  So there is a relationship between energy conservation and fire prevention, that we often don’t think much about.