FRANKLIN COUNTY — In the absence of rational arguments and based on the conclusions of the energy series, it can be determined that there are no silver bullets offering hope that the future will remain like the past.

"The enormous amount of energy we use and waste in this country is embedded in the culture we've developed since the beginning of the fossil fuel era. Therefore the absence of cheap abundant energy will have a paramount impact on reshaping our culture in the immediate future," said Jim LaBrecque.

Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve and reshape their society with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, LaBrecque explained. Altogether this gives us the hope we need to move forward in a future filled with change as we strive to hang onto the lifestyle of yesteryear.

As our society moves toward a new stage of change for ever-greater freedoms, we may be surprised to see in retrospect how easy some of these changes take place.

Wasteful driving practices, heating unused spaces, vast efficiency gains in State and public buildings and programs are examples of such.

LaBrecque, a free enterprise thinker, totally rejects the idea that the State could be an instrument of social betterment. He feels that only free choices made in markets can hold any promise of social progress.

This is most apparent to LaBrecque in recent days when the cost of fuel rose to new heights and the nation's total energy demand dropped as a result of a market response to high prices.

As energy costs continue to rise we will learn more about how we waste energy; for example, leaving a bathroom exhaust fan or range hood fan on could cost much more than leaving a window open in the winter. The light on your microwave could use more then the device itself. Your television entertainment system could use more energy when off then on.

Millions of people will actively participate in millions of energy saving tasks that will have a substantial impact on our total energy use in the future.

Dr. George Markowsky explained in past articles some simple steps with examples of carpooling with one passenger (to cut gas cost from $4 to $2 a gallon) to reduce energy costs in half or even greater with more passengers. He also spoke of cutting your heating costs by 50 percent by reducing the footprint of your home by 50 percent in winter months.

Professor Richard Hill cited examples of how "that four-watt alarm clock in the room in which nobody looks at" was shut off in every household in America; it would be equivalent to the power reduction or power production of one nuclear power plant.

Cheap abundant energy is what brought the industrial revolution to the riverbanks of our Maine towns and outlying communities. These communities, LaBrecque believes, will continue to struggle because industry can no longer rely on cheap reliable energy. "We see school enrollment and some town's tax base diminish, causing people to make moves to greater efficiencies, primarily moving to metropolitan areas where efficiency is a function of population density."

Some say as we transform from the fossil fuel era that today's rural communities or suburbia may be tomorrow's slums due to change.

As our societies face a new change of social development brought on by limited energy sources, LaBrecque believes we will find people building multi-family homes close to the center of town within walking distance of stores, schools and the post office, etc.

"In a more dense community, co-generation of electricity and central heat pump technology can play a very large role in reducing our energy needs by 75 percent," he added.

Using simple mathematics such as Hill does conceptually, there are thousands of ways to save millions of units of energy. If teachers in Maine rode the bus to school, we could keep millions of dollars in the State and conserve millions of gallons of petroleum over time. Better yet, if social development led to more students across America making the bus on time and not being driven to school, the numbers in energy savings would be significant.

We may get to a point that we can't afford food grown in California, shipped to be processed in the southeast and then transported to us in Maine. We may learn to become farmers once again in Maine and buy locally. We may learn that buying imported goods is too costly due to energy costs and American buying trends may change. All of which supports energy conservation. The Wal- Marts of the world may go back to becoming mom-andpop shops here in Maine asking the question how is this bad?

We are already making significant local changes here in Franklin County. Mt. Abram High School is converting from an oil boiler to locally produced wood chips. A wind turbine has been installed for experimental purposes. Tranten's Store in Kingfield (where this series began) uses 50 percent less energy per square foot then the industry average. A biodiesel bus transports skiers and riders to Sugarloaf from Kingfield saving great quantities of fuel and costs to local residents

These conservation measures do not reduce the quality of life or education in our local area; in fact they enhance the opportunities for us. Let's make change!