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Show Views&Op inion Wendesday, Sept. 7, 2011 From Page 14 From Page 14 Need to move toward 'green technology' From the left where-next, the pipeline is being additionally touted as a more reliable, stable and ecofriendly source of petroleum. TransCanada, predictably, has assured us that the pipeline will not adversely affect the environment, and that preventing leaks is their first priority. Initially, these all seem to be good points but upon closer examination the pipeline's appeal begins to lose its luster. About 20,000 jobs, largely temporary, would not put a dent in the current unemployment figures, nor would the short-term gains outweigh the longer-term risks and potential damage to our ecosystem. Between Canada and Texas the pipeline would pass under, not only the Yellowstone River — where just this summer a similar pipeline built and maintained by Exxon Mobil leaked 42,000 gallons of similar tar sands oil — but also the Ogallala Aquifer (one of the world's largest) and Nebraska's fragile Sand Hills. One of TransCanada's latest pipelines leaked 12 times, in 12 months, despite its earlier claim that a leak might occur every seven years, at most. A North Dakota farmer, whose land a TransCanada pipeline crossed, tells of his recent nightmarish experience in trying to report a 60-foot fountain of oil erupting from one of TransCanada's lines to their "1-800" number, but whose calls for help were ignored because the leak didn't register on their electronic sensors. No oil company, no matter what they say, can guarantee that their safety sys- tems are foolproof, should a leak occur. Additionally, TransCanada fails to provide assurances that the oil they extract will only be for the domestic U.S. market and will not be sold worldwide. TransCanada is, after all, a corporation — not a charity — whose first loyalty is to its shareholders, and who will sell its oil to the highest bidder. Obama is set to unveil his new jobs plan this week. Let's hope that it includes a shift away from our reliance on fossil fuels and companies such as TransCanada, and includes new investments in green technology. — Andrew lzatt is a sophomore majoring in religious studies. His interests include studying Middle Easter politics and conflict resolution. Comments can be sent to him at andrewizatt@aggmail.usu.edu. OFrom Page 14 Understanding spirituality abroad Ramana Maharshi, one of the great spiritual teachers of the 20th Century. Peacocks flew to the roof and screamed their hearts out, joining in the general morning celebration. Gradually, my meditation took me to a place of great peace. Here I was in India — a place I'd longed to visit my whole life. And though it was my first visit, I felt like I'd come home. Raised Catholic and granted 11 years of Catholic education, I abandoned the Catholic church in high school, bored by what seemed its excessive ritualism and over-preoccupation with moralizing. I yearned for a richer spiritual life. Like many in the late 1970s, I tried to find it with drugs. Dropping hits of "orange sunshine" — LSD — the world opened into new dimensions of vision and reality. But this was a temporary and artificial experience, and I wanted something authentic. I began reading Emerson and Thoreau, who wrote about the exploration of the inner life. I was intrigued, but how did one begin? Then I saw a flier for a meditation class and signed up. I arrived at the class and met the teacher, a long-haired guy with a beard and the most amazing eyes I'd ever seen — blue and full of openness and kindness. He looked right into my eyes without fear or competitiveness or aggression, just openly, lovingly. After a year or so of regular meditation practice, I began to feel a great sense of peace, well-being and happiness. I stopped drinking alcohol, became a vegetarian and became active in service work. One day browsing my parents' bookshelf, I found a 25-cent copy of a book by Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk, called "In Seed of Contemplation." I read it and was completely astonished at how this Catholic monk was describing meditation experiences like those I had in a Hindu yoga tradition. Eleven years of Catholic education had told me nothing about Christian meditation. I embarked upon what became a lifelong study of Christian contemplation, reading books like "The Practice of the Presence of God," "The Imitation of Christ," "The Cloud 1 Page IS of Unknowing," "The Autobiography of Saint Teresa," and works by John of the Cross, all written in a tradition called "Christian mysticism." The word "mysticism" often calls up images of magic and the occult, but the dictionary first defines it as "a doctrine of immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding, or of a direct, intimate union of the soul with God through contemplation or ecstasy." "Yoga," too, I learned, means "union"— union of the soul with the divine. The union Christian mystics wrote of sounded astonishingly similar to that described by yogis. I came close to becoming a monk in the yogic tradition I was involved in but fell in love, instead. I eventually left that tradition and entered a spiritual crisis and a long, "dark night of the soul"—to quote John of the Cross. After seven years in crisis, I found my way out when I encountered some books on Buddhism. I began Buddhist meditation and practiced in that tradition for more than 15 years. Once again, I encountered the same inner life I encountered in yoga and in Christian contemplative traditions. After this long and circuitous journey, today, I draw on all of these traditions, in addition to immersing myself in the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz, of the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism. In "The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley observed that while the world's religions differ dramatically in terms of doctrine, ritual and belief, when their members write of the inner life, their descriptions are remarkably similar. This, I have found to be true. When I sit in meditation with Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus or Sufis, I always feel that I've come home — surrounded by a love and peace that "passeth all understanding." Oil production necessary for employment of invention, the worst thing we can do is put the economy in a chokehold by barring projects like the Keystone Pipeline. Do not misunderstand me. I believe in cheap, renewable energy. The fact of the matter, though, is that a clean energy future depends on dirty oil. Plunging the economy into depression, or handing over national sovereignty to oil cartels, by refusing to develop our own resources is a foolish strategy toward solving energy or environmental issues. Oil development is essential to our future, and if in the process we can take money out of the hands of oil cartels and put it into that of American workers through projects such as Keystone XL, all the better. From the right The thinking behind those that wish to phase out oil production is that we will replace it with newer and greener technology. The fact is, though, that there is no green technology to supersede oil. Wind has reached the end of the road as far as efficiency goes; solar has potential but isn't there yet technologically; and the political hurdles facing nuclear energy are arguably greater than the scientific ones facing solar. There are, of course, other realms of energy exploration, such as cold fusion and tidal energy, but these amount to little more than pipe dreams. Economies run on energy, and there is no source of green energy that can be a viable alternative to oil. "But wait," you say, "phasing out oil production will increase market demand for alternative energy sources, leading to new innovations." This is a common belief rooted in the false assump- ...a clean energy future depends on dirty oil." — Mike Burnham, international relations and economics junior tion t at necessity is the mother of invention. Most history-changing technologies we have today — airplanes, light bulbs, computers, etc. — were invented prior to any perceived market need. These goods were only seen as a necessity after they were fully integrated into the market. Booming economies are the mother of invention. The number of patent applications rise in response to increases in GDP. Like it or not, we have an oil-based economy. If we hope to stimulate a market — Mike Burnham is a junior majoring in international relations and economics. His interests include studying international peace and security. Comments can be sent to him at mike.burnham@gmail.com . Check out the new Statesman Crossword Puzzle and you m win a $10 gift certificate! 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