By Jared Fields, Editor in Chief

Energy equals everything.

Everything must have energy.

It’s so abundant we take it for granted.

It takes energy to walk, sleep, move, live – exist. But if energy is so abundant, why is it such a hot topic and important for us to care about?

Besides living on this planet, Abilene is a hub for energy. Wind farms dot the horizon, and new ones are always in planning. The area has weathered the oil boom, bust and other rises and falls in the business. With each oil high and low, Abilene’s gain from higher oil prices offsets the loss when paying the bills.

A new, eco-friendly coal plant is opening nearby, which plans to utilize the cleanest coal-burning technology available.

Dyess Air Force Base runs mostly on wind energy and has saved $1 million in energy costs so far this year compared to the same time from last year. One of their planes recently was the first to fly supersonically with a blend of petroleum and synthetic fuel, a fuel the Air Force wants all aircraft to use by 2011.

With the unique combination of multiple energy sources and environmentally conscious residents, Abilene stumbled into being a “green” hub.

Because these many energy sources surround Abilene doesn’t mean energy is only important here or less important in a place with just one source of energy.

Energy affects all of us, everywhere.

The production and consumption of energy affects our money, which in turn affects our happiness. Being energy efficient may not mean being cost efficient just yet. The higher prices to install “green” products offsets the money those products save.

Whether “green” saves some green or not, the energy topic requires our attention, not apathy.

Unlike other topics, energy is one we cannot escape. It’s everywhere in our lives. Instead of treating energy as a trendy topic, look at as earnestly as any topic. There’s no use ignoring something all around us.

Instead of treating energy as too distant, irrelevant or inconsequential of a topic, we should realize that energy is more than just the electric meter on a house, the power lines above the street, the gas in the car or the wind turbine outside of town. Energy, although abundant and ever-present, isn’t indefinite.

Energy isn’t an ignorable topic anymore.