Driving across the United States appears to be one of the more environmentally-unconscious acts you can commit. But for me it has been just the opposite. In spite of the RV’s 9.5-10.6 mpg fuel economy, I have experienced far more than some people may ever involving the future of America’s energy. It was all because of driving through Kansas and applying what I had obtained in a class titled Introduction to Environmental Issues.

This is our first road trip across the United States, a month long journey full of many stops. Today we travelled from Kansas City, MO to Strasburg, CO. It was an 11 hour day of driving. Traversing the entire state of Kansas has given me an undeniable amount of time to stare out the window at endless rolling hills which turn to endless plainlands.

At first glimpse, in the distance I could see hundreds of wind turbines.

Immediately I snapped a picture and then looked to the internet for more information. As it appears, these turbines alone harvest enough energy to power more than 800,000 houses or 20% of the energy needed for Kansas. Unfortunately the rest of the world is not so desolate. This got me thinking about how seemingly desperate we are for fossil fuels and other nonrenewable energies.

I feel like we can do better. Why is 40 or 50% of the energy used by Kansas not obtained from wind or even solar?

300 miles later on the same I-70 we came across hundreds of other structures of notable size. This time they were oil pumps. Although negligibly more sustainable than buying oil abroad they made certain of their presence. Scattered throughout the fields bobbing slowly up and down the pumps appeared as though they were at least fifty years old.

I felt quite hypocritical judging these structures rolling by in a rig so confined by its need for fuel.

Again, I don’t want to sound as though this road trip was a free pass to destroy the planet. But can we not agree more that it has given each of us a chance to see the United States as the place it really is.

For now we remain a country which relies on energies of all sources: nuclear, solar, wind, and oil. It will take more than the work of one to find more efficient ways to power the planet. Because seeing the world is only the beginning.

When I saw the line where the wind turbines ended and the oil pumps began, I knew that I must somehow contribute. Because as a human being living in the 21st century, we can do so much better than before.

Eventually I would like to see no divide between the continuity of oil and wind in Kansas. As Interstate-70 taught me, we can all prove so much stronger if we get out there and acknowledge the world as it exists.

I’ll remind myself of this as we drive into the combustion of Denver tomorrow morning before climbing far in to the Rockies.