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It's so complicated to think about at a societal level it's depressing, but taking steps on a personal level can not only feel empowering, it can prepare you to be a step ahead when the unfolding of an oil-dependent world comes to be. I've had to make some tough choices in the last year trying to find a place that would make both me and the GF happy. Everything was a compromise; proximity to services, size of the lot, commuting distances, growing season, sense of community... They all conspired against us and her desire for horse acreage and my desire to think about a world without cheap oil.
The irony is that without the longer drive(actually only five miles longer), I wouldnt have started hypermiling, I wouldn't have started telecommuting, and I wouldnt be saving myself roughly $75 a month in fuel from when I lived closer to work. Had I not bought an extremely old home, I'd be living with a moderately efficient furnace that came with a newer house rather than a state of the art new boiler and tankless system. While the 1400' in higher elevation will certainly change my growing season, I now have room for fruit and nut trees that I just didn't have the space for before.
I'm not living a perfect zero-carbon lifestyle, but I'm getting closer and my goals are both bold and attainable. I hope to be using 75% of energy produced at home in the next seven years as well as 40% of my own food. It's not independence but it's a long way from my lifestyle of just a couple years ago.
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